Sekirei: Fear of the Dark
by Ikrani
Summary: Minato is a two-time failure of a college student whose life is forever changed the day he meets a raven-haired beauty with the power of the Four Winds. But as the game progresses, a new player appears, one with far more sinister machinations in store. Prepare thyselves, Minato and Co, lest the darkness overwhelm you.
1. An Unusual Sight

**_Sekirei: Fear of the Dark_**

Hundreds of puffs of mist rolled out of the mouths of dozens of pedestrians, all traversing the Tokyo sidewalks. Shops around the park cast a soft glow over the streets, the only warm thing on a chilly night like tonight. Cars angrily honked at one another to get a move on, because everyone had someplace to be, and theirs was of course the most pressing of destinations.

A light breeze wafted through the green and swayed the branches of the many willows, which crowded around one another throughout the park. They offered shelter from the lights and bustle, a small grove of darkness in a bright, loud, angry world. One could be forgiven for sliding up to one and sleeping amidst the branches; uncomfortable as it would seem, the price would be minor in exchange for a warm escape. However, it was not the wind that had made this springtime evening especially frigid.

Sitting on a bench, with a too-long lab coat appearing to be the only thing she wore, was a very lovely and sullen-looking young woman. And there was no doubt to her womanliness: shapely around all curves, just about as perfect as a hand-crafted work of art could be, her skin as flawless as sculpted marble. Her head was hung, the intricate crimson mark on her forehead mostly hidden by her short, auburn hair. So oblivious was she that she barely shifted when the wind carried one of the sleeves up to gently bat her face. She shrugged it off, her eyes sliding shut. Those eyes, practically weeping with despair, had stared aimlessly at the ground, their owner unaware of the many amorous looks she was given by the men who passed her by. They strayed no closer than a dozen meters, avoiding her like a leper, for the blood on her jacket raised a red flag to this woman's recent past.

The woman sensed another approaching, footsteps light as they crushed the grass beneath them. With only idle wonder to compel her, she tilted her head enough to see feet, large and without shoes. Baggy black pants covered the legs attached to those bare feet, elastic anklets within the bottoms ensuring they clung without strangling. Were they a Sekirei as well, or just some lunatic who walked the park late at night, sifting through the rest of the trash?

"Rough night?" he asked, his voice a not-quite-booming baritone. He didn't even question the blood on the lab coat. To him, she said nothing.

He remained next to her even as the moments of silence trudged on. Was he planning to challenge her? If so, he'd already left himself vulnerable as this close range. However, he'd probably win anyway.

"That's not your blood, is it?" The question was rhetorical. "So why so glum?"

She felt a ham-sized fist nudge her shoulder, as cold as her own flesh from her chilling aura.

"Come on! The night's still young! Still so much to do, so much to see! And who knows? Maybe you'll find your Ashikabi." The bench groaned as he leaned back against it, a sign that he'd flopped down next to her. His hands were behind his head by the time she deigned to inspect him.

"Though, I'm _pretty_ sure you'll have more luck if you get off your backside and go look for him," he added.

The irony was not lost on her, but did nothing to cheer her up. She finally grew weary of his enthusiasm, and decided that she should clear the air, lest this ignorant soul waste any more time talking to her.

"I'm broken," she murmured, still not meeting his gaze. "I can't be winged."

The male hesitated, his next word devoid of his previous laid-back energy. "What?"

She hugged her knees to her chest, her soft breasts contorting against her well-toned thighs. "Just leave or terminate me. I'm no use to anyone."

" _Terminate_ _you?!"_ The very notion seemed to horrify him. Perhaps he, too, should face his end now, if he could not stomach what was needed to win the Plan.

"Listen, you," he said sternly, his merriness taking on an edge, "if you wanted a quick end you'd be out picking fights with tall buildings and sharp objects, maybe Number Four. But you're not; you're right here, on a bench, wallowing."

"There is nowhere for me to go."

"Well, _obviously_ , if you got no place you wanna be," he huffed. "But _I_ think you're sitting here..."

She felt a hand like matured ham take her own, his finger firmly gripping her soft skin.

"-because you're waiting for a miracle."

For the first time, she deigned to look up. Large frame, fair skin, blue eyes, blonde, buzz-cut hair? She'd heard of this one, though more from his gender than his fighting prowess.

Her slightly uplifting, slightly irritating company, one of the rare few male Sekirei, inhaled like he was about to continue. But at that moment, both he and she registered the sounds of two others on the approach. With their enhanced hearing, they very clearly picked up the words "prize", "collection", and "Sekirei".

"We have to go," her erstwhile companion urged, tightening his grip and attempting to pull her up.

"Why?"

"Because I've run into that kid before. He's bad news."

Failure to communicate. She tried once more. "Why would you care what happens to me?"

He paused; she felt his grip tighten a little more. After a moment, her attempted rescuer continued to tug on her hand. "Look, I'm sure you've probably had better days than this, but now's _really_ not the time for stupid questions."

He didn't, no, _refused_ to understand. An icicle materialized from the ground at her whim and jabbed at his arm, forcing him to tear it free lest he be left with a bloody hole punched in it.

"Save yourself," the Ice Sekirei told him. "Go. Find your Ashikabi. My fate isn't one to share."

Rubbing his wrist, he gave a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Go ahead and mope. Just remember that one person's trash", he said as he turned to leave, "is another person's treasure."

And as quickly as he came, he was off again.

"Even if said treasure wants to be left alone..." she heard him mutter.

The sound of his footsteps leaving was followed by another pair approaching from the front.

"So _that's_ how he got away! Ngh, now I want him even more, Mutsu!" whined a youthful voice.

"One thing at a time, Hayato." This one sounded older, not as deep or resonant as the first man, but far more mature in its timbre.

"I told you not to call me that! I never gave you permission to speak so informally! I am your _master!_ "

"You're my Ashikabi." By now, the two were standing right in front of her. "That's not how it works."

She sat there, waiting for the end to come. If this one had already winged another Sekirei, then he must know there's something wrong with her. The mark on her forehead gave her away for what she was. He would cast her aside, just like MBI had done, or terminate her.

A soft, warm hand, which felt like it had never done a hard day's work in its life, took her own, laying another on top of it.

"You must be cold, out here alone."

Like with the first male, she said nothing. She was wary of him, though, as another had already tried to take advantage of her body that day.

"Do you have a home? Or an Ashikabi?" asked the boy, Hayato. She decided that, like the last one, the air should be cleared so he could just get on with his life.

"I have neither," the icy woman replied. "As I told the other one, I'll never have an Ashikabi. My wings are forever shorn."

"Well, as my friend so eloquently put it, that's not how it works."

She felt one of his hands tip her chin up to look at him. His eyes were partially obscured by the shadows, but the moonlight gleaming off of them reflected a mix of moods: hope, ambition, friendliness, and more than a little possessiveness. This last one in particular... For some reason it stirred her, fulfilling her fantasy for what an Ashikabi would be like. If nothing else, she could tell that he wanted her, and badly. Though for what purpose?

"You'll come home with me if you want," he told her. "I'll give you a place to stay, and some new clothes. I'll be your Ashikabi."

Her fleeting hope faded as the knowledge of her situation reasserted itself, and her eyes drifted down from his own. "I told you: you can't be my Ashikabi. No one can."

Her eyes widened when she saw him smile. "You'd still be my Sekirei, even if I can't wing you," said Hayato. "And that would make me your Ashikabi, now wouldn't it?"

 _You'd still be my Sekirei._ Her lips contorted to silently mouth the words, and for the first time since she'd escaped, a small but noticeable fire lit inside of her. She stood, her stolen lab coat barely covering her lower half, if at all. The boy who'd offered her a home took off his own jacket, an expensive piece of tailoring which no doubt cost him a small fortune, and slung it around her waist. He tied a knot at her left hip, holding the makeshift skirt in place. Already he was looking after her.

"What's your name?" he asked, as she allowed him to lead her away. His sword-bearing companion flipped his blade around to rest on his shoulder, relaxing his tension.

"Akitsu," she said. "My name... It's Akitsu."

"Well, Akitsu," said Hayato, as he walked her over to a waiting limousine, the door held by a chauffeur, "welcome to my collection."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sahashi Minato sat hunched-over at the desk in his apartment, an invisible cheese-grader scraping against his forehead as he continued to pore through his textbook. By this point, he'd long ago exhausted his energy for studying when he'd finished off the last of his instant-ramen. All he had left driving him was his own desire to prove himself wrong: that he wasn't a screw-up, that he could achieve where he'd failed before, that the echoing nags of his mother could finally shove it, and that the light-hearted but potent taunts of his little sister would cease being held over his head.

Of course, if he failed again, his mom would bring the axe down on his allowance and Yukari would never let him hear the end of it.

He'd have to get some minimum-wage employment, becoming another of many wash-outs that drifted aimlessly from job-to-job, mooching off of people for food, and further lowering the Japanese standard of living. Not that he cared what anyone really thought about him, but like his push to pass, it was himself that he wanted to hold in high regard. And right now, stuck in this low-rent, one-room apartment, he was about as far down as he could get without being homeless.

Sighing, he stood up from his books. He needed to clear his head, or he was never going to get through this. His patience had finally run out and while he knew he was just making up an excuse to get away, he also knew that he was on the verge of going stir-crazy. So, he slid his long, lanky arms into the sleeves of his jacket, checked his messy black hair in the mirror (he hadn't left his apartment since he'd awoken that morning), and walked out the door. Strolling down the stairs outside, his mind began to wander with his feet.

He ended up wandering a lot farther than he would've liked, had his mind not drifted at the second crosswalk. Not many were out right now, but the sounds of Tokyo still filled the mid-afternoon air. So, he'd been left to his own thoughts, contemplating where his life might go, walking past the cafes and seeing all the happy couples there. Frankly, he envied them. He'd never kissed a girl, let alone gone on a date. His mother and sister may have had something to do with it, but he knew the blame rested firmly on _his_ shoulders. If he would ever man up and taken charge of his life, he might've stood a chance at co-ed social interaction.

But then his first exam scores had come back and that hope had all but circled the drain.

Sighing once more, and without paying mind to where he was going, he turned a corner into a shadowy alley way, surrounded by two-story buildings. The path was a little darker than Minato would've liked, and he was about to turn back when the boom of thunder reached his ears. From around the corner it came, about half-way down this lonely back drive. Against his better judgement, he jogged toward the sound. The scene that greeted him was an unusual one, to say the least.

Three women stood at the other end of the alley, all of them long-haired, all of them well-endowed. Two were clothed in matching S&M gear, one indigo, the other dark violet; one looked angry, the other perturbed. If not for the differences in apparel, along with the former being a bit chestier, they'd be exact duplicates of each other.

But the third woman... She was something else entirely.

She wore a tight-fitting purple Chinese dress, one that reached down _just_ far enough to preserve her decency. Sections up the middle torso were cut out, revealing some of her midriff. They also allowed a good view of the largest, most magnificent breasts that Minato had ever seen. Her hair was tied back with a violet ribbon, the raven-colored locks flowing behind her shoulders. She appeared taller than the other two, but that might be attributed to her high-heeled shoes. In short, she looked positively stunning, easily the most beautiful creature Minato had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on, like a goddess straight out of myth.

"You didn't even give your numbers before attacking me, and now you fight me two-on-one," she said, her voice a sultry alto. She sounded more put-off than anything, and from the bottle of liquor she held, Minato could probably guess why.

She held out her free hand, like she was motioning for a car to stop. "I'll be the better woman. I'm Sekirei No. 3, Kazehana."

 _"Wagtail"?_ thought Minato.

The twins' sudden fear was palpable. "Crap, she's a single number?" uttered the less angry one.

Minato didn't know what this was all about, but his inner good samaritan compelled him to intervene.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Minato shouted, regretting it instantly as the three diverted their attention to him. _Why am I getting involved in this?I should be running!_

"Stay out of this, kid!" the angrier girl shouted.

"What she said," Kazehana added, then readdressed the twins. Lightning flashed and the lone woman was twisting herself high the air, a gust of wind shooting from her outstretched arm. It slammed into Ms. Angrier, sending her flying back against the wall.

"Whaaa…?" Minato was in shock. That or he'd eaten something funny for lunch and was now hallucinating.

"Hikari!" The other girl moved out of Minato's sight, moving to her partner's aid.

Flexing her legs as she landed, Kazehana balled up a wad of air as chain lightning lashed at her. She vaulted back as Minato started shimmying away from the battle, praying they'd get too engrossed to remember he was there. If there was ever a time for him to go unnoticed by the fairer sex, he hoped it was now.

Wind and thunder collided over and over again, the ronin getting occasional glimpses of the three as they bounced off the walls. And the ground. And occasionally that one fire escape that overlooked the corridor he was in. Once again Minato was confounded by the fact that he was still here, instead of making a hasty retreat to, well, literally anywhere else.

 _And just what_ ** _is_** _going on here?!_ Minato silently shrieked.

Kazehana darted back, the twins moving forward and calling forth more lightning. The indigo-clad one, Hikari, shot off her bolt but the other, whose name remained a mystery, did not, because she caught Kazehana's own attack and was knocked out of the air. Hikari passed the window that was the alley mouth but was struck by something, her diminishing grunts telling Minato that she was tumbling _away_ from the mouth. After that, Kazehana hopped to the middle, back where he could see her, and held a hand out on either side, her head swinging back and forth as she found herself between her two foes.

What none of them knew, however, was that Kazehana was exactly where she wanted to be.

The crackle of power warned her of the impending attack and she was off the ground, twin balls of electricity colliding right where she'd been only a second ago. Her arms remained outstretched as a pair of transparent spirals shot from each hand, the gusts twisting with her body as she somersaulted through the air. Then she pushing off the back wall, unleashing a slipstream behind her that both propelled her over Minato's head and buffeted her two opponents.

The woman of the wind landed to his left, her hair and split sleeves jostling in the whirlwind surrounding her. On the opposite side were the twins, looking somewhat battered by dirt and scrapes. Despite their numbers, it seemed Kazehana maintained the upper hand.

Kazehana gestured with her hand again, and another whirlwind began to materialize. Minato realized what was about to happen and, for reasons he could not possibly fathom, found himself running _toward_ the purple-clad valkyrie, or rather, towards the area to her immediate right. Surprisingly, she held off unleashing her torrent until he was safely behind her.

"Now blow," she commanded.

The whirlwind exploded out of her hand and the twins' shrieks could be heard rising from the ground. In a moment, they had disappeared into the sky. Minato stared up, the wheels in his head spewing smoke from trying to process everything he'd just witnessed. A voice brought him out of his retrospection.

"I know this is a lot to ask..."

Minato's gaze slowly returned to Earth and he found himself face-to-smiling-face with Kazehana. His heart hammered in his chest; after seeing what she just did, not even _her_ amazing looks could stifle his terror.

"But you wouldn't mind keeping this to yourself, would you?" she said. In spite of his fear, there was something alluring in that smile, something that went beyond his natural male reaction to a beautiful woman. He couldn't explain it, because every rational fiber of his being was telling him to run for the hills and yet there he was, standing right next to a woman who could launch people into orbit with a flick of the wrist.

"Uh, well-" Minato stammered to find words.

Kazehana seductively raised her eyebrows, leaning in closer. "Pleeeease?" she cooed.

Her face was a little flush. Her lips were only a few inches away from his own. Despite his usual politeness, the thought crossed his mind to try and kiss her.

Instead, he sputtered, "O-of course. Whatever you say, Kazehana-san."

Quickly pulling back, Kazehana about-faced away from him.

"Thanks a bunch," she said, and began walking. She stopped. "One more thing…"

Minato froze. What horror was she about to unleash upon him?

"I never did catch your name."

Minato relaxed a bit. He was high-strung, but who could blame him? "Minato. Sahashi Minato," he said, bowing.

"Well, Minato, Sahashi Minato-san," she said, "it was nice meeting you," and resumed walking. Minato likewise hurried back to the sidewalk. He wondered where she was going, because he'd just remembered which alley he was in, and the path Kazehana tread only led to a pair of dead-ends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A short while later, from an overlooking ledge, Kazehana watched Minato leave the alley. Something was fluttering in her chest; it had been from the moment she'd laid eyes on him. Thank God she'd been an experienced fighter, because had it gotten worse she might've found herself in a bit of a pickle. For goodness sakes, she leapt _towards_ him knowing that he'd be put between her and the Lightning Twins. And if she'd followed her core and reached out to take him as he ran past her...

She screwed her eyes shut and shook the budding fantasy away, but the afterglow still remained. The sensation pushed against wounds left by her old love, though it fought an uphill battle. She paid it little mind; from experience, this was something best combated with repression and liquor shots.

She put a hand against her bust, willing her heart to calm. It only obeyed once Minato-san was out of sight, at which point she could finally relax, unwind, and resume her mid-day sake. Her body's reaction said that he was the one for her, but she wasn't about to throw herself into some stranger's arms, Ashikabi or no. Heartbreak was not something she was in a hurry to revisit.

And yet, try as she might, she couldn't fully dismiss the idea. He seemed like a nice enough kid, and he'd been ready to step in on her behalf, knowing zilch about her. That was more than she could say for her last lover.


	2. Call It A Date

**Author's comment:**

I _always_ read the reviews. Anything you have to say about my work, no matter how old the chapter is, no matter how long it's been since the last update, no matter how critical or how jovial, I'll read it. I may not respond to it (right away, or at all), but your words will never go overlooked.

I wrote this note in December of 2017. You can look at the publication date to know how long that was since this fic began. I _still_ want to hear your thoughts, because you, the reader, are the one I'm catering to. If you don't like what you read, then either my tastes don't align with yours, or I'm not doing my job right. Won't know which it is until you tell me. So don't be shy, speak up. Lemme hear what you have to say. All I ask is that you be polite, if you can help it.

Anyway...

* * *

Closing the door behind him, Minato sank against the wall of his apartment. His notes were still scattered as he'd left them, and he crawled over to his desk to resume studying. It felt like rubbing his brain against hot asphalt, but the alternative was far worse a prospect.

This particular round of book-crunching was a real chore, though. Calculus and high-level English were things that existed in a rational, orderly world. That wasn't where Minato was, oooh no. One little walk outside, one innocent attempt to clear his head, and once again he'd found himself reduced to a punchline. He knew, just _knew_ , that someonewas laughing at him. The universe had taken everything he knew about Planet Earth, crumpled it into a ball, and carefully, yet tentatively, **tossed it into** **the** **Sun**.

A million and one questions jostled around in Minato's braincase. Just what in the name of Porco Rosso had happened earlier? Who was that mysterious women who called herself "Wind Flower", and why did her sexiful visage refuse to leave him alone? He had real life to deal with; his late-adolescent fantasies would already get in the way as is! Not to mention the constant, fleeting hope that he might see her again, never mind talk to her...

This train just had no brakes; his mind was hungry for guesswork. How many of these women were there? From what those twins had said about her being a "single number", he could guess that she wasn't the third among those particular three. So that meant there were more, at _least_ eleven or twelve of them: the first nine single-digits (who apparently were some kind of elite if the Thunder Twins' fear was anything to go by), plus a possible Number Zero, and then the Twins themselves would make Numbers 10 and 11.

Minato sighed. His books were a hard place, and everywhere else, nothing but rocks. After all he'd seen, he couldn't be sure that something _even stranger_ wasn't lurking out there. Who knew? Maybe his next stroll would see him run into a shape-shifting black blob with a skull mask and sharp claws that hissed like a drunken snake.

His face bonked against the desk. Of all the days to stumble upon something so mind-wrecking, it had to be one that came _before_ his entrance exams. Couldn't that cosmic comedian have waited just a couple more days? What's a little pause before the carpet's yanked out anyway?

After about ten minutes of paranoid introspective, he managed to shake off every mental nag that hitchhiked in his brain, save one.

Try as he might, the scintillating image of Kazehana flat-out _refused_ to leave him alone. It stuck with him all throughout his studying, and because his mind loved to mess with him, it only left him alone _after_ he went to bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was night by the time Kazehana had finally gotten drunk.

She sat atop an under-construction skyscraper, funded by MBI of all people; no doubt a bid by her old flame to tighten his stranglehold on the capital. She smiled at the irony: even after rejection, he was hoisting her to the sky above.

 _You could never be meant for me,_ his transparent visage told her. _Even if I had the slightest inkling of attraction towards you, I'm far too busy for such trivial matters._

She'd asked him, no, _pleaded_ with him to think about their time together. What was it to him, if not the world?

 _Equally trivial. Now run along, my dear; I have work to do._

A tear started to roll down her cheek, both in the vision and even now. Her chest hurt, her throat swollen with anguish. Quickly Kazehana put the red bottle to her lips and chugged, but it did nothing. Her muscles too distraught, she coughed out the burning liquid. Hacking and sputtering, the raven-haired bird nearly fell off her perch. Wait, no, she was falling, though still cognizant enough to twist around and land belly-first on the next steel beam.

 _Why…?_ It was a question she'd been asking for a long time.

Bottle still on-hand, she tipped it back and drank, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of her escape as she stumbled back against a vertical girder.

 _Sekirei were meant to fall in love…_ She wiped her lips clean with her arm. _B_ _ut I'm always stuck with the table scraps._

One, a egocentric narcissist. The other, a fragile boy. Hardly the men of her dreams, when she dreamed of her Ashikabi at all.

But that boy… Mako… No, Minase? The sake was blurring it all out, _finally_. Well, whoever he was, the one thing she couldn't get rid of was those words that he'd shouted that day.

" _Hey! Leave her alone!"_

And what was she to him? Hot arm candy? Maybe a nice lay? Kazehana knew how men looked at her.

But he… He'd struck a very specific chord, one that had led her astray before. Yet, the thought of him was a tranquil one. That fearful face he'd worn when she approached him… The memory wasn't enough. She was craving the real thing, his presence, his touch, his lips…

 _Sahashi Minato..._ she thought. _It's a funny old world_ , _isn't it?_

And the cure for said world was another drink. Alas, she'd run out, so instead she curled up to have a little cry.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Walking out of his cram class, Minato was still thinking about the events of yesterday. Was she some kind of witch? He saw her wield the wind like magic, and those other two girls from the alley, were _they_ the ones who caused that thunderclap? It made sense, yet thinking about it was making Minato's head spin.

But, what he really wanted to figure out was why he was still dwelling on _her_.

Just when he thought it was settled, his mind kept coming up with reasons to return to her memory. She could've just blasted him into oblivion with that windstorm she kept on hand, but she didn't. She could've threatened him into keeping her secret, but she didn't. She certainly didn't have to _smile_ at him, but she did. Probably the single most captivating woman Minato had ever scene, straight out of his dreams like an angel from heaven, and Kazehana had treated him with the utmost courtesy.

And, last but certainly not least, there was the ever-present factor of her perfect thighs, her massive breasts, flowing hair, beautiful eyes, ruby lips, and-

"Hello again, Minato-san."

Her voice, as seductive as the way she carried herself.

Minato hesitated to look, afraid of being disappointed. To his utter amazement, he was not, for standing behind him was Kazehana. She was just as alluring as before, though without pants-darkening fear to cloud his vision, he noticed her glamour seemed to hide something. He couldn't explain how, but something was telling him that this carefree front was just that, albeit partially.

"K-, Kazehana-san!" Minato stammered, scrambling to compose himself before giving a bow. "It's nice to see you again!"

A thought occurred to him.

"Wait..." He lifted his head. "Have you been following me?"

"No," she replied casually, putting her hands behind her head and leaning back to ease out her chest. It was waging an all-out blitz for his attention. "I just happened to be in the neighborhood."

That was a complete lie. Before she got the chance to draw his eye to her cleavage, Kazehana had started following him from the moment she'd spotted him on the sidewalk. Keeping to the rooftops, so that five-dozen turned heads wouldn't give her away, she'd tailed all the way to his cram school. There, she had sat upon a rooftop ledge, bottle of sake in hand and completely ignored, waiting for him to leave. Like before, her heart began to beat a little faster once she'd spotted him.

But, of course, Minato was kept ignorant of all that.

"Sooo…" she said, putting a finger under his chin and guiding him back up, leaning in close. "You haven't told anyone about that little incident, have you?"

There came that terror again. "N-no, of course not," he replied nervously.

Kazehana's head cocked and she smiled at him with her eyes closed. "Thanks for that." She revealed her garnet orbs and crossed her arms beneath her bust. "But just to make sure you _keep_ keeping your promise, how about I treat you to dinner?"

Minato blinked. He froze, his mind trying to grapple with the reality of the situation, or lack thereof. When he took too long to respond, his eyes wide like a deer staring at a pair of headlights, Kazehana raised her eyebrows in an insincere "pity me" look.

"You're not about to turn a girl down, are you?"

" _Iappreciateit_ ," he blurted, snapping back to. "It's just that, well…"

He was about to tell her he wasn't used to being asked out by a woman, or actually going out to eat _with_ a woman, or talking to women in general, but his stomach beat him to the punch.

"Then it's a date," Kazehana said, taking his hand in her own. "Know any good places around here?"

Her soft palm stirred the butterflies in his stomach to complete pandemonium. He swallowed, nodded and led her onward. Any minute now, he was going to wake up in his apartment and this rollercoaster of a dream would come to an end.

He stopped when he heard her giggle, a string of staccato sounds made all the more sweet by her alto pitch. Turning to look at her, she was still as happy as she'd arrived, though a slight blush had appeared on her cheeks.

"Thinking of having _me_ for dinner?" she teased.

All the blood rushed to Minato's face, so much that a small amount dribbled down his nose. Quickly he jerked his head away and pulled a tissue out of his pocket.

Kazehana remained behind him, allowing the _ronin_ to tow her by the hand. Just the feel of his hand was driving her crazy. It didn't help that his shot nerves made him look absolutely adorable. She was lucky her quiet laugh had been the only thing to slip.

 _How much longer can a girl keep this up?_ Her smile only widened from there.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dinner went better than Minato expected. Despite his apprehensions about himself, it really did seem like Kazehana wanted to be with him.

"School got you down, huh?" she remarked.

"Yeah. This'll be my _third_ time taking the exams," he laughed, shamefully itching his hair. "At this rate, I'll never get in!"

"You'll get in, Minato." Kazehana poured herself another cup of wine and sipped it, savoring the fullness of the flavor. "Aahhh… Third time's the charm, after all."

"Yeah, I wish," moaned the youth, spooning in another mouthful of soup. "If Mom lets me live that long."

"Oh?" Kazehana's eyes perked up and she rested an elbow on the table, along with her breasts. "What's _she_ like?"

"She's… Uh…" Sometimes it seemed like this woman before him was engineered for sex appeal.

Kazehana smirked and nudged her breasts closer together. "Enjoying the view?"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, ugh…" Minato plunked his face down on the table.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Mina-kun." She reached over to ruffle his hair. "Besides, women like me appreciate honesty."

Minato shyly raised his eyes to her. "Really?"

It was all Kazehana could do to not squeal at that face.

"Really," she said, looking down at her wine and refilling the cup. Those were eyes that she just couldn't keep contact with, if she was to maintain her composure. "Now, what were you saying? Your mom?"

"Oh yeah." Minato straightened out, turning to his soup for a retreat. "Truth be told, she's a good person, strong-willed, but she's also a little, um, terrifying."

"In what way?" It was then that Kazehana finally picked up her chopsticks, snagged a piece of her dragon roll and popped it in her mouth. The melted cream cheese made the myriad of other flavors simply divine.

"I have a memory of my sister getting lost in the woods," Minato reminisced. "She used to lose her way all the time, but this time I managed to get myself lost trying to help her. In the end, _she_ ended up finding the way back, and I got a pretty bad scolding at home."

"What, Mom didn't appreciate the effort?" Kazehana's smile dimmed and she took another shot.

"I didn't think before I went out. I had an idea of where Yukari went, but I didn't take a map or a phone or even a compass. I was in too much of a rush."

Kazehana clasped her hands. "Aww, that's so sweet, racing to your little sister's rescue."

Now Minato was the one who couldn't keep eye-contact. "Kazehana-san… It's embarrassing…" A few seconds later the smell of fish, cream and hot sauce invaded his nostrils.

"Mi-na-toooo…"

The ronin turned back to find a piece of dragon roll, held between a pair of chopsticks and seeking entry into his mouth.

"Really, I couldn't," he professed. "You enjoy it, Kazehana-san."

"I'd savor it more if we _both_ enjoyed it," she countered playfully. "Now open up."

Minato reluctantly obeyed. As soon as the roll hit his tongue his mouth became a whirl of sensations. Why the hell did he order just _miso_?!

"And what about your father?"

"We-hll," Minato coughed, accidentally inhaling a few grains of rice, "my mom would never talk about my dad. Whenever I'd ask about him she would just say he was a 'unique individual'. Whatever _that_ means." Minato tentatively took another spoonful of miso. After that dragon roll, his soup was as bland as water.

"Your mom sounds pretty 'unique' herself: strong-willed, intelligent, terrifying…" Kazehana's voice trailed off.

"Sounds like someone you know?"

The ice in her voice was cold enough to freeze his hot soup. "Someone I hate."

Now this was new, and the _ronin_ didn't like it. Kazehana could charm the pants off of him (and _there_ was a thought), but this harsher side reminded him of the power she'd wielded against the Lightning Twins: bitter, agitated, annoyed; it didn't suit her lovely features at all. It made the "Greek goddess" comparison more palpable, in that he recalled the Greek pantheon to be full of arbitrary and spiteful deities, who treated mortals as temporary playthings. He hesitated before speaking up again.

"Kazehana-san, can I ask you something?"

Some of her warmth returned. "What is it?"

"Why would you waste time on a guy like me?"

"'Waste time'?" she repeated, pouring herself another cup of sake, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Well, it's just..." He looked away from her. "I know you wanted to stop me from telling anyone your secret, but I would've kept it anyway. You didn't have to do all of this for me."

"Oh?" she asked, downing the liquor and sighing as she felt the familiar burn of it in her throat. "Aahh... What's wrong with wanting company?"

Looking back at her, Minato asked, "But why _my_ company? I don't really have any talent for anything, and I'm a twice-failed _ronin._ " He hung his head. "I really don't have anything to offer, least of all to someone as amazing as you."

Kazehana placed a hand under his chin and lifted his head up to her.

"You're a nice guy, Minato," she reassured him. "That puts you ahead of some of the other men I could name. My ex, for instance."

"Oh," Minato said, scooping another spoonful of soup. "Is that why you left him?"

"Actually, I was the one who got dumped."

" _What-?!_ Hhhach!" Minato gagged as his soup went down the wrong pipe. "Why?!"

"He had eyes for someone else," Kazehana said, resting an elbow on the table and looking down at her cup. "And even then, I'm not sure he loved _her_ , either."

Minato didn't know who this person was, but either they'd found someone even better than Kazehana (which raised a whole new slew of questions), or they were complete barking mad.

She sighed, and began circling a finger around the rim of her cup. "The heart's a complicated thing, Minato-san. You don't need a reason to fall in love, it just happens."

Desperate to change the subject, Minato set his spoon down and rested a hand on his stomach.

"Well, I don't think I could eat another bite."

"And I seem to have lost my appetite." Kazehana motioned for the check, giving him a funny look as he reached for his wallet.

"Please, allow me to pay for myself," he said.

"Forget it," Kazehana responded. "I said I'd treat you to dinner and that's exactly what's happening."

"But-"

"Shhh." Kazehana rested a finger on his lips. "If I let you pay for anything, then it wouldn't be a gift, now would it?"

Seeing the sadness in her eyes, he found himself unable to deny her offer. This time, it was he who was towed, at least until they reached the restaurant entrance, at that point Kazehana halted, stepped back, laced her arms about his left limb and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Walk with me," she murmured longingly. "At least until you're home safe."

Minato swallowed audibly. "Al-, Alright… Kazehana-san…"

It was less cold out tonight, the weird chill that had settled on Tokyo now gone. For his part, Minato was glad, as it allowed him to carry his jacket over his shoulder and feel Kazehana's plush, silky-smooth skin to envelop his arm. She was constantly breaking new ground for him, leading him into uncharted waters he'd always been too scared to dare.

"Kazehana? Er, -san?" he added, almost forgetting his manners.

Her violet eyes swiveled to stare up at him, reflecting the moonlight in a manner to make them glow. "What is it?"

He blushed a little, never letting his gaze waver for more than an instant. "I'm glad I met you."

Those twin garnets of hers slid shut and she nestled her cheek against his deltoid. "I'm glad, too, Minato."

Those four words officially made his day.

They continued the rest of their stroll in silence, content to just soak in the orchestra that was Tokyo-by-night. About a block before they reached the complex where his apartment was, Kazehana turned her shoulders and slid his arm between her breasts, surrounding him in plush, womanly softness. Minato's stringy bicep instantly went tense at the sudden move. His scrawny limb showed off the pathetic excuse for his muscles, though after a second he unwound, only to feel Kazehana's bosom more fully envelop him. Looking down at her, he saw that she'd pushed her breasts together with her own arms. She didn't seem to notice, as she looked as peaceful as a sleeping princess straight out of a fairy tale, her cheek resting comfortably against him. More and more, this was a dream come true.

"We're almost there. My apartment should be around the next corner."

"Mmmmh… Already?" she sighed, voicing the same thought he had.

"Really, Kazehana-san, I should be walking _you_ home."

His date opened her eyes.

 _Ready to walk a girl home when he's right on his doorstep,_ she thought. "You're so manly, Minato."

Minato turned red again. Of all the words he used to describe himself, "manly" was not one of them.

They rounded the corner, and Kazehana gazed up at his face. Her body was getting hot all over from being this close for so long; she hoped Minato wouldn't notice. Yet at the same time, she hoped he did, so that she could jump into his arms and wing herself on his lips and tell him everything. The longer she was near him, the better an idea it sounded.

 _And the cuter he seems to get._

"Number Three," a stern female voice called out.

Kazehana, still caught in heat, disentangled herself from Minato's arm as the two turned around. Standing behind them was a buxom woman clad in wide strips of white cloth, like a makeshift bikini, leaving her midriff and legs completely exposed. Her face was hidden by a veil. The strips of cloth extended from her attire and seemed to be suspended in mid-air, like the heads of a hydra.

Neither Minato nor Kazehana had time to ask what this was about before the veils around the woman twisted themselves into blades and shot towards Kazehana.


	3. A Shift in the Wind

Kazehana had stood statue-still, as if in a trance, watching the reaper's scythes carve through the air. Her body was at a crossroads, at one hand crying out to move, on the other, for what? Without an Ashikabi, one to fight for, what reason was there to fight? It was a question she wrestled with as the veiled daggers continued their approach, the world having slowed to a drowsy trudge around her. Even the sense of a hand, slowly squeezing her arm and gently moving her to the side, felt like she was in a dream. The heat within her remained the only constant in this dream, rapidly coming to its bloody end.

The next thing she knew, Kazehana face-up on the hard concrete of the street.

Minato was on top of her, mumbling something that might've been an apology for tackling her. She really couldn't tell, because at that moment the heat within her body had ignited into a raging tempest, causing her to blush and amorously rub one thigh against the other. A spell of light-headedness was starting to wash over her, drowning out all other sights, with Minato's fearful expression being the only thing still clear. Despite the rough ground, she felt surprisingly comfortable lying there, his form pressed against hers, his face looming over her own, thrusting itself closer.

"Kazehana-san, are you alright?!" Minato's voice echoed.

Her mind cleared and she remembered that they were being attacked. Looking to her right, she saw her attacker, clothed in white, more veils snapping out. She splayed her fingers and sent a gust of wind point-blank at the ground, sending her up to her feet while also catching Minato's face in between her breasts. She didn't apologize, as somewhere in the back of her mind, she was hoping it was a feeling she'd have to get used to.

Pushing him away as gently as she could given the circumstances, she waved a hand towards her foe and scattered the oncoming veils.

"Are you going to state your number?" she asked, perturbed at her adversary's callous behavior. "Or do you not respect the rules of the Game _at all_?"

Her attack having failed, the veiled girl charged forward, white death circling around to strike at No. 3 from the sides. Kazehana didn't even flinch, throwing her hands apart and flinging walls of air to batter them away. The Veiled Sekirei darted left, circling around, one of her veils caught on a stop sign and dragging itself behind her. Like the heads of Scylla, the white reaper's talons snatched out, hungering for Kazehana's heart, and with each one turned aside, Kazehana faltered a little more. Her vision, once cleared, had now begun to blur again. If not for the stark contrast of white against the urban grey of Tokyo, reflecting the soft moonlight into her eyes, Kazehana would be blind to her foe's weapons.

Her next sidestep saw her leg give out from beneath her, The Wind Sekirei forced to rebound off the ground as she'd done moments after Minato had born her out of harm's way. Somersaulting back, she remembered that Minato was behind her, still tangled in that hedge if his grunts of struggle were any sign, and so moved left to draw her attacker away. If Minato were to be pierced with those pale speartips... Kazehana felt her chest grow tight.

Another trio of groping white tendrils lashed at her, seeking to immobilize their target's legs. Hopping over one, Kazehana battered the rest away with another gust of wind.

"Behind you!"

Minato's warning nearly reached her too late as another blade, the one which had hung limp from the stop sign, leapt to life as it aimed to take hers. She barely whirled away in time, white cloth turning red as it sliced her high on her left arm.

The seasoned Sekirei cursed herself for having been so easily distracted. What was wrong with her?!

The problem, she quickly realized, was that she'd spent too long playing defense.

A transparent sphere formed between her grasping hands and was slammed into her opponent's side as she continued to circle. The white-clad Sekirei was sent catapulting across the street, but her veil snapped around a street light and allowed her to put the breaks on her flight. She backpedaled a bit, looking to regain some distance for the next attack. Kazehana couldn't put her finger on why, but there was something familiar about this one, like she'd seen her before somewhere.

But identities would have to wait. Kazehana made a twirling gesture with her arms above her head. A whirling wind tunnel spun from her hands to come crashing down on her enemy, while another wave of air sought to sweep her enemy up when she jumped back.

Leaping back as Kazehana had expected, the tunnel uprooting the street sign she'd been standing in front of, The Veiled Sekirei actually twisted three of her blades into a larger one and broke through the air wave like a snow plough, scattering it and stirring up the crumbs of concrete on the road. Kazehana's next flick of her wrist saw a slim tornado spring to life and race towards her foe, its tail scooping up various bits of garbage from a nearby drain.

The massive blade cloth the Veil had conjured sprung forward, riding the wind current around and continuing on. Kazehana found herself at a crossroads, as any way she dodged meant that a blade or two could break off in response to her attempt to evade. Her opponent knew it too, and was angling for the killing blow. With that much mass, it had pierced her whirlwind with ease.

Was this it?

What the veiled girl _actually_ did, though, was yank her blades to a halt as soon as Minato ran in front of Kazehana. His action also caused her to lose control of the tornado.

"I'm not going to let you hurt her!" Minato proclaimed, his arms spread defensively.

"Minato-san, what are you doing?"

"Never mind me!" Minato cried, not taking his eyes off of Kazehana's attacker. "Just get out of here!"

Kazehana began to choke up a little, and she wasn't sure why. "Minato-san, you don't have to-"

" _NO!"_ His shout startled her, looking at her with teary eyes over his shoulder, shuffling to the side when she tried to move out from behind him. "I've seen how amazing you are, Kazehana-san! And if my life's as worthless as it's always been, then at least now I can make it count!"

He turned back to the Veiled One, who was still waiting there, her silken death-blade suspended in mid-air, coiled like a viper.

"So if you really wanna hurt someone-"

 _I can't believe I'm saying this_ , he thought, screwing his eyes shut.

" _- **then hurt me instead!**_ "

Silence followed, neither woman saying or doing anything. Both were completely dumbstruck.

For Kazehana, it hurt. Her chest, it physically hurt. The inferno within her body flared up even more, and it took all of her willpower to not fling her arms around him and crush him to herself, scared unto death of losing this stranger, this boy who she'd only met a day before but who now seemed to be the center of everything, an inseparable part of her world that she was on the cusp of seeing struck down before her. She stood rigid, every muscle in her body paralyzed and her eyes wide with fright.

"What are you waiting for?!" Minato cried, his knees beginning to buckle.

Thankfully, the veiled one didn't seem to like this new development. The coils unwound, first breaking apart, then slithering back behind her, winding around her lithe body until she was completely covered. Below her right breast, a small stain of blood could be seen on the edge of the wrapping.

"Another time, Number 3," she called. She then turned her attention to Minato. It took everything the ronin possessed to not flinch, for though he couldn't see her eyes, she knew this assassin was staring at him, sizing him up, inspecting him and contemplating the kill. But surprisingly, she said nothing, merely gritting her teeth in frustration. With that, the unknown woman soared into the air, vanishing over a rooftop.

Minato finally allowed himself to collapse, whatever madness that had overtaken him still lingering. While it lasted, he had to see to Kazehana's wound.

"Kazehana-san, how's your-"

His voice stopped short. Kazehana's eyes were half-open, gazing deeply into his own and her face flush. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. While he had this sneaking suspicion, it was also possible that she was going into shock. Over what, though, he couldn't say. As nasty a gash as she'd received, it was hardly fatal.

"I… I have some bandages in the bathroom," he stammered. She simply nodded, and allowed him to lead her up to his apartment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There, that should do it," Minato said as he finished wrapping medical tape around her arm. He wasn't good for much, but he had taken time to learn basic first aid. There were some things he knew for sure would come in handy someday, more than American history or poetry or other things his education had forced on him. However, he didn't expect that day to be the same one where he threw himself in the middle of a battle between two super-powered women.

Kazehana came out of her stupor just long enough to thank him. But her words caught in her mouth as Minato curled up and began bawling his eyes out, soaking his shirt with tears.

"What's wrong, Minato-san?" she asked.

"That..." He sniffled. "That fight in the street. I... It..."

He bent forward and clutched at his head.

"I was so _useless!"_ he wailed. "All I could do was sit there and watch! And then... When she made that giant sword..."

The young boy opened his eyes. In them, Kazehana saw that this was no act. Minato's heart was on full display, every soul-wrenching thought dredged up and poured out before her.

"I'm no one special," he sobbed. "I couldn't get into a college on my own, I've lived off of my mother for the past year, my sister's getting ready to pass me. My life's been a complete waste, the most I have to show is top-marks in high school."

By now, his deluge had begun to wind down, as did his voice. "A fat load of good _that_ did me..."

He looked into her eyes, still too shaken to notice what lay with in: compassion, understanding, knowing exactly how hard it felt to feel like nothing, to be rocked to the very core by things that were beyond her control, things she knew she could never change. Kazehana soaked in every word he said, wanting ever so much to banish the dark clouds surrounding him.

But... Not now. Soon, but not just yet.

"I _like_ you, Kazehana," Minato wept. "I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, even if it was just one meeting on the street and one date! I... I feel like I know you, as well as I know my mother. There's not much but it's still more than _I_ have! So... I just didn't want to see you get killed. Not while I could do something. And even then I still didn't..."

He tried to bury his face in his hands, but was intercepted. His tears had broken the fetters of Kazehana's control and she flung her arms around him, pressing herself against him as he leaned against the side pillow of his couch. Her movement re-opened her wound a bit but she didn't care. Minato needed a hug and she was more than happy to provide one, resting her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt the warmth of his body mixing with the heat that continued to burn within her. What had once been detrimental was now a soft, soothing sensation of comfort.

"Kazehana-san?" he choked, looking down at her.

"I know this is a bit forward," she said softly, "and I can't explain everything right now..."

She lifted her head off and looked deep into his eyes. "But do you want me, Minato-san?"

His mind became jumbled.

"Wh- what?"

She smiled. "Like you said, we've only known each other for a little while, and I admit I had my doubts at first..."

She lifted a finger to his face, wiping away his tears. "But I had a feeling about you, Sahashi Minato. And no matter how hard I tried to convince myself, I just couldn't shake it."

"Kazehana-san..."

Her head dipped, looking down as she laid her hands on his forearm. "I told you I once loved someone. But then I got dumped. It hurt so much that I never thought I'd be happy again. So, I left."

Turning away, Minato sniffing as she leaned on him and gazed off into the distance. "I went on a long journey looking for something. I never found it, but the only place I got was the bottom of a sake bottle." She sighed, heavy with regret. "And I've been there ever since."

Her grip on his arm tightened ever-so-slightly. "I think what I was trying to find..." She looked up, her soft breath caressing his cheekbones. "...was a better person."

Slowly, it dawned on Minato what she was implying. "Kazehana-san, I am _not_ a better person. I'm the exact opposite of a better person. I'm nothing!"

"Hmh-hmh, silly boy," she chuckled softly. "You nearly got yourself killed, just for a poor girl you barely know. You care for me, cry for me, and I can tell, deep down, you love for me, too."

She circled her hands around the back of his head, lacing her fingers through his hair. "That's exactly the kind of person I've been looking for. If it's on you, Minato, then I'll take a chance."

"But, it's _me_ , Kazehana-san. You're not making sense!"

Her hands were slowly drawing their faces closer together; the ronin, despite his protests, made no struggle. "You're someone, Minato," Kazehana murmured, "way more than you realize. And like I said..."

Her mouth was now less than an inch from his, her eyes nearly shut. "You don't need a good reason to fall in love."

With that, she kissed him.

His lips sparked the most wonderful sensation Kazehana had ever felt. Energy flowed through her body, weaving its way around her chest and into her arms before spiraling down to her legs. The heat that had been raging within her melted away her old feelings as Minato's palpable kindness, flowing straight from his soul, melted her heart. As the sensation within her limbs retracted, it wound its way to her chest and materialized in a pair of luminescent pink wings, exploding from her back in a cascade of light. She felt a Sekirei crest form on her back, right between her shoulders. She was _his_ now, and she never could've imagined just how good it would feel.

Minato opened his eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of the wings before they dissipated.

"What was _that_?" he exclaimed.

"The binding of our contract," Kazehana beamed, her face radiant with so much joy that she nearly started weeping. "I'm your Sekirei, Minato, now and forever!"

And then there was a knock on the door.

"Minato, are you in there?" a grumpy old man sounded. "What was that strange light just now? I swear, if you've brought a woman in here-"

The short balding man stopped as he swung the door open and saw his tenant lying on the couch with the long-haired beauty nestled on top of him. He pointed a dictatorial finger at Minato.

"You have one week, so get packing!" he bellowed before slamming the door.

"Oh crap!" Minato shouted, sliding out from under Kazehana and standing up. "Exams are coming up, _and_ I'll have to shop around for a new apartment, _after_ I finish packing, and then there's settling in, negotiating the rent-"

"Minato."

Minato's ramble stalled as Kazehana pulled him back onto the couch and leaned against him, burying his arm between her breasts.

"Relax," she said softly, pivoting around to straddle his waist. "We'll find a way."

"Kazehana, I know you want to help..."

She never let him finish. Her pink wings lit the room once again as she pushed him sideways on to his back, Kazehana's kiss bringing her new Ashikabi to his senses.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Across the city, as night time fell and the moon rose high, a woman moved to shut her window. She felt the wind billow through her purple hair, howling through the sky. As she placed her hands on the shutter, she felt it change, going from a fierce gale to a gentle breeze.

For some reason, it made her smile.


	4. A New Place to Crash

Kazehana felt Minato shift and awoke, looking past her clavicles at her new Ashikabi. His head rested on her breasts, his breath and hair tickling her skin. He'd fallen asleep before Kazehana could seal their contract _her_ way, and just after she'd slid her dress off with her wind powers, too. But despite that, she couldn't help but smile, laying a hand over his head and guiding him deeper into her embrace.

Oh, if only he'd wake up already! Kazehana's wings were less than a day old but already she was hungering for his sweet touch, the kind that only an Ashikabi could give a Sekirei. She'd lain with him and kissed him again and again, that wondrous energy filling her every time they separated and rejoined, like lust and ecstasy and security all in one. She felt safe beneath him, funny seeing as she was the more powerful of the two. But she couldn't explain it: like some missing key to a lock had been found, Kazehana's anxieties about the Plan and the oncoming conflicts had disappeared while her Ashikabi lay sleeping on her bosom.

Certain individuals had scoffed at her notions of Sekirei, that her kind were only meant for battle, that humans were at best a necessity, at worst an infestation. But after experiencing the winging for herself, she knew they were just plain _wrong_.

And she couldn't be happier for it.

She put a hand on his face, afraid that he might evaporate into smoke. Such a wondrous feeling couldn't be real; it had to have been a dream, a dream she wanted to never end. She gently caressed his side with her naked thigh, wrinkling up his shirt and letting her feel his flesh underneath. Her arms wrapped around his head, pulling him further into her left breast, closer to her heart. He nuzzled her cleavage as he began to stir, Kazehana emitting a soft moan at his ministration.

Soon enough Minato opened his eyes, gazing up at her sleepily.

"Morning, Kazehana-san," Minato said, his greeting somewhat muffled by her boob. He didn't seem to realize which particular pillows he was sleeping on, if his usual politeness wasn't compelling him to get off of her. Not that she would let him, of course.

"No need to be so formal anymore," she said, offering him a warm smile to start the day. "'Kazehana' works for me."

"Al-right..." he breathed, turning his head into her cleavage and unintentionally smothering himself.

She saw his one exposed eye grow wide as his sensory systems informed him of his current sleeping arrangement, and right on cue Kazehana locked her arms around him, halting his escape attempt.

"You like?" she asked seductively.

Minato muttered a muffled something that sounded like "taking advantage of", to which his new Sekirei asked, "Oh, really?" Her legs wrapped around his waist, her ankles maneuvering his panted pelvis into contact with her own. Feeling his own reaction to her, she cooed, "Could've fooled me."

"Kazehana, really," he said, managing to slide his mouth from the soft mass of her mound, "I know a lot happened last night, but we still only met a day ago!

"Oh my! You're such a romantic, Mina-kun!" she cried happily.

Next thing Minato knew the raven-haired beauty had levered herself up and was kissing him again. Her pink wings of light confirmed that no, yesterday _hadn't_ been a dream.

And then the TV flickered on and a grey-haired man with glasses and a white outfit appeared on-screen.

"Congratulations, Sahashi-kun, on being chosen to be part of a greater legend!" he exclaimed. Kazehana separated immediately, surprising her Ashikabi, and leaving him more than a little disappointed. On reflex, he reached for the remote.

"Ah ah ah! Don't touch that dial, not until you've heard what I have to say."

Minato was quick to abandon it, completely flabbergasted. The couple both sat up, Kazehana's pleasant mood irreparably brought to an end.

"I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I found out it was Number 3 you had winged," the man on the television said. "Well done, my boy, well done indeed. You have become what is known as an Ashikabi, a human player in a little game I happen to be running. Number 3 is one of many talented fighters that are participating in this tournament, The Sekirei Plan. She will fight for you and protect you.

"Also," he said, a serious note entering his voice, "Know that this is very hush-hush at the moment, so please keep it to yourself. Otherwise, I'll have to use my resources here at MBI to punish you!"

He spread his arms about him.

"So good luck, my boy! For what I have planned, you're going to need it!"

With that, the television switched itself off.

"Who was that?" Minato asked. The man had sounded just the slightest bit, well, insane.

"That," said Kazehana, her voice cold, "was Minaka Hiroto, the co-founder and CEO of MBI, the Gamemaster..."

She hunched over, glowering with her arms crossed.

"And my ex."

Minato's jaw dropped. His initial thought had been right on the money. That man, Minaka, really _was_ insane. And realizing that he was now following-up someone who ran one of the biggest, most powerful companies in the world, Minato suddenly felt very inadequate.

Sensing that his self-esteem was taking a nosedive again, Kazehana straightened out, turned and pressed herself against his side.

"Don't worry about it, Minato," she said, clasping his face in her hands. " _You're_ the big fish in my life now. Minaka's old news."

She kissed him. Once again, distilled passion filled her and erupted from her back in a pair of angelic wings. She was tempted to let herself be swept up in its embrace again, especially since she was properly dressed this time, but there were more worldly concerns that needed attention. And not _that_ kind of attention, either. She gently pulled away, still drunk on the cocktail of energies her Ashikabi instilled her with.

Minato had come to the same conclusion. Sitting up, he picked out a fresh set of clothes for himself and offered her first use of the bathroom. She politely declined, though when Minato was in the middle of his shower, he had to voice his concern.

"So, what we going to do about a place to live?" he asked through the door.

"I have a friend who runs an inn," Kazehana called back. "She never refuses someone in need. Speaking of, how about I join you in there?"

Minato bit back his first inclination to accept her offer, blindingly tempting though it was.

"Sorry, Kazehana. I have class, and I'm pretty sure if you came in, I'd never get there."

"On time?" she asked, a half-smile twisting her lips.

"At all."

Kazehana sighed humorously as she stretched out on the couch, her purple dress still discarded. Couldn't argue on _that_ one.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Say, Kazehana, I was wondering..."

She detached herself from his arm and looked up at him. "Hm?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. It's supposed to a secret and we're out in public. We can talk about it later."

Kazehana smiled and re-entangled herself, resting her head on Minato's shoulder as they continued to ignore the envious gazes from the other males on the street.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, my husband always said to help those in need," said the smiling purple-haired land lady, Miya. She'd listened to Minato's story and decided that he probably wouldn't have much luck anywhere else, being a jobless student and all.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Minato said, bowing his head.

"So after we unload your things" Kazehana whispered, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her ample bosom against his back, "What do you say we go upstairs and christen our new bedroom?"

Whack!

The broomhandle in Miya's hand snapped forward and caught Kazehana on the top of her head.

"There will be no lewd behavior of any kind at my inn," Miya said.

Miya's eyes widened into pools of emptiness and a demonic hanyo mask appeared behind her.

"Is that clear?" she asked.

Minato tried to respond but he was terrified beyond any ability for rational thought, so what ended up coming from his mouth was a string of gibberish. Kazehana wisely choked down her retort, and the hanyo mask vanished.

"Good," Miya said, smiling.

"It was allowed when Takehito was alive…" Kazehana muttered, rubbing her new lump head. Then again, she could always smuggle him into a love motel once he was done with class.

As if their thoughts ran parallel, Minato slapped himself in the head and looked at the clock.

" _I'm going to be late for cram school!_ " he exclaimed. Even though he'd brought his things with him, the walk here had taken a lot longer than he'd expected.

Hurriedly, he picked up his backpack and raced out the door of the inn, Kazehana watching him.

"Need a lift?" she asked, strolling down the front steps.

Minato stopped at the gate. He wondered what she was talking about, since he didn't know how she planned to drive him without a car, before she spun him around, hugged him close, his face pushed to her bust (unnecessary, but not unwelcome), and leapt into the air. His shriek of fright was stifled by her soft chest. She quickly realized that this was a first for him and touched down on a rooftop.

Stumbling from the sudden movement, he pinched himself to make sure he was still alive, then looked at her.

"What was _that?_ " he uttered.

"It's how Sekirei usually travel. It's a lot of fun, once you get used to it," Kazehana replied. She smiled at him. "Though it's a lot more fun with you, Minato."

While Minato's cheeks did their best impression of a fuji apple, Kazehana offered him her hand.

"Wanna try again?" she asked. Minato hesitated, then nodded and grasped her palm. Right away he was yanked to her, squeezed tight against her . Minato closed his eyes in anticipation for what was to come.

Once more, Kazehana leapt into the air. Held close to her like this, it wasn't as frightening this time. Every touch-down on a roof gave her a little jiggle, which suited Minato just fine _._ In fact, opening his eyes to see the wind billowing through her hair, he quickly found himself enjoying it.

And a subtle pelvic thrust against him let Kazehana know just how much he was enjoying it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato had refused Kazehana's offer for a ride home, deigning instead to walk. Kazehana had teased him about giving him some exercise in her own special way, but had relented without too much argument. Cram school was a draining experience, and Minato could only soar above the rooftops so many times in one day. He'd probably get used to it in time (after all familiarity _does_ breed contempt), but he'd gently told her to give him a little space. He was glad she didn't argue. Though, given how affectionate she'd become since her "emergence", he had a feeling she'd be all over him when he got back to the Inn.

He was about halfway home when he heard the rumble of thunder. His heart froze in his chest, recalling the same sound just prior to meeting _those two._

"Look out!" hollered a cute, girlish voice. "I can't stop!"

Minato looked up just in time to see a busty brunette, clothed in a white gi and a light red skirt, come crashing down on top of him.


	5. Another Girl

"Owww! I'm sorry…"

Minato sat up, and in doing so almost managed to put his face right into the girl's breasts. He quickly scrambled out from under her, hand clamped over his nose. Just in time, too, as he felt that coppery trickle begin to leak from his nostril.

The girl sat back on her heels, her fighting-gloved hands overlaid on each other atop her thighs. Now that he had a good look at her, Minato could see that she was _extremely_ cute. Her big, round eyes were as brown as her hair, which was chin-length in a hime style. Her bangs had been cut short to reveal her adorable face. Minato could see a pink bow behind her neck, no doubt tied around another, longer lock. The white gi she wore had a red string as a trim, with a pink sash wrapped around her slender waist. Her red skirt covered half of her thighs, her white stockings making up the rest.

If Kazehana was the embodiment of a mature, sultry seductress, this newcomer seemed more like a peppy girl-next-door type.

A really well-endowed girl-next-door, actually. Equally appealing (even if hers weren't _quite_ as titanic as Kazehana's legendary knockers), just in a different way.

"You're not hurt, are you?" she asked, inspecting his half-covered face.

"A-hur, it's fine, really!" he coughed, realizing he'd been staring at her chest.

"Glad to hear it!" she beamed, then courteously bowed her head, in such a way as to swing her breasts a little, letting Minato know _exactly_ how round and full they were. "I'm Sekirei Number 88, Musubi."

"NicetomeetyouMusubi-san, I'mSahashiMinato," he said hurriedly, banishing dirty thoughts from his mind. He started. "Wait, I thought this Sekirei thing was supposed to be a secret."

Musubi's fingers flew to her lips. "Oops!"

Minato shared her sentiment. He recalled the Director's threat, and felt sorry for all the poor souls Musubi had spoken to that day. Surely Minaka wasn't planning to punish _all_ of them, was he? As the head of MBI, if he wanted to, he certainly could, and nothing short of _another_ army could stop him.

"Hey, it's okay," Minato laughed, taking her hand between his own.

Musubi slowly lowered her digits from her mouth. "You think so?"

"Weeell..." He smiled as best he could. "Here's hoping."

Musubi cocked her head to the side, her face beaming back.

 _Wow, she is just_ adorable _! Are all Sekirei like this?_

Then Musubi opened her eyes and looked at him like a cow looks at an oncoming train, only a frown creasing her features. "But wait, if it's a secret, how do you know, Minato-san?"

Minato opened his mouth, prepared to explain (damage done to anyone around), when that dreaded sound reached his ears.

What's worse, the thunderclap was closer this time. Without thinking, Minato tightened his grip on Musubi's hand and dashed off, cutting between some nearby buildings and racing inside a nearby department store. Spying a set of changing rooms, he sprinted over with the captivating brunette in tow. . As he locked the door, Musubi wondered what he planned on doing if he had no clothes to change into.

Within moments, Musubi heard the automatic door open with her Sekirei hearing. She realized this boy's intention and raised her legs as they sat down on the bench, their feet no longer visible to passers-by.

"I know they ran in here, Hibiki," one voice said. "Say, you think he was that guy from the other day?"

Minato's breath clumped in his throat, and Musubi heard him swallow it. Yup, that was _definitely_ one of them.

"We so lost our jobs after this…" came another voice.

Minato felt the lump _cl_ _unk!_ against the pit of his stomach. That was _both_ of them.

"Rrgh! Where are they?!"

"Look, Hikari, we really shouldn't do this here. If we make too much of a scene, someone from MBI's might come."

"You mean, they might send…"

As the testier twin's voice trailed off, Minato felt the temperature in the room drop, ever-so-slightly. He had no idea why.

 _Pleasejustgopleasejustgopleasejustgopleasejustgo…_ Minato rambled the phrase in his head over and over again in the hopes it would come true. Musubi was equally as tense as Minato, if not quite as quivering.

"Come on, they'll have to come out of here some time," said the first voice, Hikari.

When faint sound of the automatic door reached his ears, Musubi let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks for rescuing me!" Musubi whispered, uncurling and placing her feet back on the ground.

"Really, it's noth-"

Minato's words caught in his throat as she pitched forward and her eyelids slid shut. Quickly he reached out to steady her, accidentally grabbing one of her milk cushions before readjusting his hand up to rest on her collar.

"Musubi-san, what's wrong?!"

"Hungry…" she whimpered. Well, at least she wasn't mad at him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Though, in retrospect, Minato kind of wished _that_ had been the worst.

He forced himself to keep smiling as Musubi wolfed down the remains of her sixth hamburger, her free hand already unwrapping the seventh. It was hard to believe that someone could eat as much as her and still maintain such a perfect figure. He assumed, given the way she was dressed, she did a lot of physical training, but that didn't make it any less impressive.

"Um, if you don't mind my asking..." Minato hesitated, unsure if he was about to stray towards a touchy subject. "What, erm, 'kind' of Sekirei are you?"

"A fist-type," she replied, crumpling up the wrapper and attaching it to the growing wad beside her. "I know there's a few others like me, but I haven't met them yet. I hope they're really strong, though!"

"So, you're strong, too?" he inquired.

"I sure am!" Musubi clenched her fists, accidentally crushing her newest hamburger. The contents spurted out of the packaging and Musubi was left holding the "After" image of a vicious burger-on-burger mugging. She quickly realized what she had done and stared at her hand as it unfurled to reveal the full horror of the aftermath.

"Then-" Minato was cut off by Musubi tearing up, sniffling at the tragedy resting in her fingers.

"I did a bad thing," she sobbed. Minato decided to roll with the joke and tenderly placed his hand on top of hers, gently closing her fingers around the burger and tapping them in sympathy.

It was only after she genuinely began weeping that Minato realized she was, in fact, completely serious about the waste of food. Fidgeting as he struggled to come to grips with the revelation, he placed his hand around her head and hugged her close, in the same manner as Kazehana had done for him. Granted, this was a... _slightly_ different scenario, but Musubi seemed to view it the same.

Besides, what's another good turn? He wasn't stingy.

Eventually, Musubi quieted down and resumed eating, drying her tears with her clean hand and wiping off the ketchup from her fighting glove.

"So, if you're a fist-type, and you can fight-"

 _At least, I assume; she_ **_is_** _a Sekirei, after all_ , he thought

"-then what were you doing when you, you know, fell on me?"

She swallowed her food before speaking. "I was running. Those two girls have been chasing me all afternoon. I would've fought them, but..."

Her stomach growled. Minato couldn't _believe_ she was still hungry.

"No! That's not it!" Musubi protested.

Minato held up his hands. "Don't worry! I never thought it was!" _Considering she only got this hungry_ after _she ran into me._

Musubi popped a fried chip into her mouth before continuing. "I can't fight until I find my Ashikabi. I know he's out there somewhere, and some day I'll find him!"

Stopping as she was about to take her next bite, her eyes started to water over again.

"M-Musubi?" stammered her host.

"Thank you, Minato-san," she blubbed. "You rescued me from those other two girls and now all of this. I wish my Ashikabi is someone like you."

Minato simply bowed his head and said, "Glad I could help." And, as a matter of fact, he was.

After eating her fill of MOS Burgers, she and Minato exited the store. The sun was starting to set, cram class had ended almost two hours ago, and Kazehana was probably starting to wonder where he was. Walking along, Minato couldn't help feel he'd forgotten something.

Suddenly, Musubi darted back, electricity tearing her pretty white gi and leaving her midriff (along with the lower portion of her alluring bosom) exposed. Right on cue, the Lightning Twins appeared.

"Ugh, you _again?!_ " the indigo twin, Hikari, bemoaned angrily. "Why are you protecting her? You're not her Ashikabi, you know!"

He stood his ground, hoping that they would be as ironically humane as The Veiled Sekirei had been.

"Fine," Hikari continued, "We'll knock you out and then send her back to MBI."

"Sis, we're not supposed to target civilians, or Ashikabi."

"If this loser wants to get in our way, Hibiki," snarled Hikari, "that's his own fault!"

Guess not.

Seeing that Musubi was still lying on the ground, looking rather feverish, he scooped her up in his arms and bolted. The twins sighed (one with more angrily than the other) and pursued, taking token shots at the human in the hopes he'd drop the Sekirei in fear of his own life. He did not. Their frustration only grew when his pace didn't slow, like he believed he could actually shake them off.

Wait, maybe that was it...

Minato, for his part, continued to run as the bolts of lightning around him slowed their pace before stopping all together. Nearing the corner to what looked like the rear driveway, Minato risked his breakneck pace for a glance back. No lightning, no S&M outfits, just good ol' Tokyo streets. Maybe those two had given up after all. But just in case, he resolved to keep running until his breath ran out.

Which shouldn't take him much longer. Why did romance films never show how hard bridal-style carrying was?! He should _sue_ for this!

A sentiment that would have to wait, unfortunately. In truth, Minato should've kept watch on where he was going, because as he rounded the corner, looking to duck off the street, he ran face-first into a wall.


	6. Fists of My Contract

**Author's comment:**

To my non-Japanese readers, disregard. You probably won't notice anyway.

To my Japanese readers, who all seem to drop off after this chapter, know that I am fully aware of "it". I assure you that "it" is no longer the result of my complete ignorance. That is to say, "it" used to be, but something I've learned is that if you can't fix a blemish (in this case because I just really like the way "it" rolls off the tongue), make it part of the story. Forces one to think outside the box, you know? In this case, "it" became part of a certain character's past, what made them who they are, as well as the reason they, too, stuck with "it".

Believe me, you'll know "it" when you find "it". I only hope you can tolerate "it" enough to enjoy the rest of the story.

* * *

Minato fell back onto the ground, clutching his forehead, Musubi landing sideways on top of him. The ronin groaned in pain, the asphalt having won a crushing victory over his behind. The girlish Sekirei's right boob was resting on a very particular spot on his body; even through his jeans he could feel how big and soft it was. She was on her hands and knees before Minato's body could give her _its_ honest opinion, though that didn't stop it from silently speaking it.

"Oooh... Are you okay, Minato-san?"

At this, the wall swiveled his torso around. He had thick, rotisserie pork loins attached to his shoulders, which he no doubt referred to as "arms". The loose-fitting, sleeveless black gi did nothing to conceal the size of his frame, his pectoral muscles peeking out from behind the "V" split down the middle. His legs were more concealed, with wide, baggy trousers descending down to twist themselves around elastic anklebands. His feet were bare, which was odd, considering how filthy urban ground tended to be. Overall, he looked like someone who ate nothing but raw beef, milk, maybe even solid bricks, for how he'd only just _now_ noticed that someone had run into him. A pair of intense-looking blue eyes gazed at Minato past a square-set jaw. The wall's thick brow furrowed, punctuated by half of his mouth contorting into a pitying smile.

"Well don't just sit there rubbing your face like a dummy," he rumbled, his voice a resounding baritone. Offering Minato one hand and Musubi the other, they graciously accepted as he helped them to their feet. The meat of his hand felt like cooked steak, thick but somewhat soft. The soles of his feet were probably similarly matured, if not more so; it would explain why walking on grimy, gravelly asphalt didn't seem to bother him.

Minato managed to ponder all of this despite the pain in his hand from the wall's crushing death-grip. Now standing up, wringing out the bones of his freshly-squeezed extremity, Minato could see this friendly stranger was a lot shorter than he'd seemed at first. That's not to say he wasn't large, coming up to maybe a centimeter shorter than Minato, who himself was quite tall. If anything, Minato felt himself shrink a little. With guys like this in the world, it still blew his mind that a radiant beauty like Kazehana would even give him the time of day.

Musubi stumbled against the side of the drive, her knees weak. The wall's eyes flashed with intrigue when he caught a glimpse of the Sekirei symbol on the back of Musubi's own gi, but then noticed Minato's noodly wrist.

"Eh heh, sorry about that," he chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his buzzed haircut. "So, what's the rush? You miss the bus or something?"

A mischievous twinkle entered his eye and he nodded towards Musubi. "Feeling lucky, maybe?"

"Huaaagh... You have no idea..." Minato gasped.

The man's eyes suddenly widened in alarm, darted upward, and following his smile vanishing he yanked both Minato and Musubi behind him. A crackling ball of lightning crashed down where Musubi had been standing. She was out of the way quickly enough but Minato was not, sparks scorching his clothes and causing them to smolder. While thankful for the man's timely intervention, Minato was surprised his shoulder was still in its socket.

" _Will you stop running and just let us take you out?_!"

"Hikari, what's the point?"

Minato felt his heart skip a beat. Praying that he was wrong, that it was just a freak lightning bolt in the middle of a cloudless sky, that he was just _imagining_ it, he turned around. Much to his dismay, there stood the SM twins, Hibiki and Hikari, ready to make his day even longer.

 _Why do I bother?_ he silently moaned. _I didn't imagine the fight with Kazehana; why should I expect something different?_

As the man got a good look at the twins, his eyes narrowed.

"Wait, I know you," he said, rolling his neck and shoulders and stepping forward. "You're that pair who's been running around attacking the unwinged ones, aren't you?"

"And what if we are?" Hibiki asked, a quiet note of unease entering her voice.

"Well, last time I checked," said the man, crossing his thick forelimbs, "Sekirei fights were _supposed_ to be one-on-one."

He turned to address Musubi, who was being cradled by Minato.

"Hey, you!" he bellowed. Musubi was still panting in a feverish stupor. "You wanna come over here and make this legit?"

His query fell upon deaf ears, for if Musubi had been in different condition, she would've literally leapt at the chance.

"Hot…" she whispered, clasping her partially-exposed bosom.

"No?" the apparent Sekirei said, turning his attention back to the twins, his grin having returned. "Alright then…"

Hikari and Hibiki paused. The black gi, the buzzed ash-blonde hair, the unusually large build? They recognized him now, as he jabbed a thumb at his chest. This particular Sekirei, outside of his un-Sekirei-like physique, had a reputation for being-

" **I, SEKIREI NUMBER 67, KAGEDANSU-** "

 _...His name is what?_ Hibiki thought as he thrust a finger at the pair of them.

"- **ACCEPT**..."

He swung his arms above his head.

"- **YOUR-** "

Clenching his fists, he slammed himself into an ironclad fighting stance.

"- _ **CHALLEEEENNGE!**_ "

Loud. Very, very loud.

The twins readied themselves, a faint ringing in their ears, as the living wall rushed at them, arms out-stretched like he was prepared to give them a bear-hug. They leapt up, but Kagedansu had anticipated that (given the confines of the alley) and followed suit, slamming into Hikari. The momentum of his charge carried him all the way across the street, over heads of pedestrians, sailing into another alley. His aim had been dead-on. He retracted his arms and shoved Hikari as they neared the ground, adding further force to her fall. She slammed into the ground while Kagedansu tucked and rolled to minimize his own impact. Coming to his feet, he continued forward, knocking Hikari back down with a stomp and stepping over her. She scrambled to her feet, catching Kagedansu's earth-shattering punch with her own electrified hand. Both regretted their decisions as the two hands smacked into each other, Kagedansu's going numb, Hikari's screeching under protest.

Hibiki landed behind the two with her crackling power at the ready. Kagedansu responded by hooking his arm around Hikari and slinging her behind him, letting _her_ sample the lightning. Though Hikari took the blast without damage, she provided Kagedansu the perfect shield.

Gritting her teeth and spinning on her heel, Hikari snapped her arm forward. Kagedansu's left hand enclosed her own and forced it down, feeding the discharge back on itself and jolting them both apart.

Kagedansu smirked and lurched forward, slapping Hikari with his limp hand-

" **HA- _HAA!_** "

-before she gave him a few thousand volts straight to the chest. His body went rigid as electricity decimated his form, tearing at his clothes, and he pitched backwards. As he did, his foot swung up and smacked Hikari in the chin, sending her stumbling back as well. Her sister out of the way again, Hibiki, descending from mid-air, called a lightning bolt down on Kagedansu's now-grinning face. He shifted his weight to his hand and spring-boarded to his feet, the lightning bolt narrowly missing him and charring the back of his clothes. Another bolt caught him right in the face, causing his entire body to seize up yet again. Hikari rose from the ground, her arm still-outstretched, as Kagedansu sank, falling on to his face. Hibiki landed in front of his unmoving form as Hikari strode up behind their fallen foe. She yanked down the back of his gi and placed a finger on his exposed Sekirei crest.

"I'm pledged to the thunderclap," she spoke authoritatively. "No disaster-"

Her incantation was interrupted as the seemingly helpless Kagedansu scissored his legs and pinwheeled his hands around, catching each of the twins at their knees and sending them sprawling. He then sprang to his feet as Hikari, getting _really_ pissed at, well, pretty much everything, vaulted off her hands and landed on the sidewalk. The gi-clad fighter grabbed a nearby trashcan and nearly ripped the handle off hurling it at her. She blasted both it to charred confetti with her lightning, and then caught a face full of fist as Kagedansu burst through the cloud of garbage, his distraction having worked perfectly.

Hikari spun, grinding her teeth in rage, as Hibiki touched down next to her. Looking at each other, they decided that they'd had enough of this joker. They joined hands and began gathering their energies. Power crackled around them and their Sekirei crests began to shine.

 _So much for keeping them separated_ , thought their adversary, his chest beginning to hurt. He knew that sight all too well from witnessing other Sekirei being winged. _So these two got all jumped-up on Ashikabi juice before going on the prowl..._

This wasn't good. An unwinged number like him wouldn't be much against a fully-empowered combatant, let alone two.

"We're pledged to the thunderclap," boomed the twins, a mass of lightning growing ever-larger above their splayed hands. "No disaster will strike our A-"

Kagedansu didn't let them finish, their incantation or their attack. Pushing off the ground, he bounced his way up the walls of the alley, leaping over the rooftop ledge and disappearing from sight.

" _Hey, get back here!_ " Hikari barked. She and Hibiki followed, carrying their lightning in preparation for their electro-nuking of 67. But when they reached the ledge, there was no sign of him. The rooftop was completely empty. Looking around, their keen Sekirei eyes couldn't spot him in the distance, and leaping from roof-to-roof was a Sekirei's favorite way to get about. It was as if he'd vanished into thin air; gone, completely without a trace.

Sighing and rolling her eyes, Hibiki turned to her sister.

"Never mind him, let's go find that first one before she gets winged," she said as she prepared to push off the ledge. Better to try their luck finding two people than chase someone with a disappearing act.

Growling, Hikari did the same. "I'm going to get that bastard for this," she said, rubbing the spot where she'd caught his punch, still _very_ tender. Leaping off, they raced to relocate their initial quarry. In a moment, they were long gone.

His breath bursting from his mouth, Kagedansu dropped his active camouflage and sat up, hammering at his chest with his fist. There hadn't been any heavy shadows for him to hide in on a sunny day like this, and while his power of near-invisibility might easily fool a human's eyes, he wouldn't have escaped the detection of a Sekirei.

So instead he'd laid down, flat on his back, one side up against the concrete ledge. His hands had rested on his belly, waiting to lash out should one of the twins step on him. And, just as he'd hoped, the one place they hadn't looked for him was the one right under their feet.

Kagedansu snickered to himself. It also helped that no one ever expected a loud-mouth like him to be sneaky. Just like no one else had thought to get a Sekirei crest painted on their back so as to fool a battle-weary opponent into thinking he was vulnerable. Though, that might change once he was winged.

Or maybe he should leave it on. After all, those two wore gloves on their hands and any bare-handed Sekirei going for his kill-switch might think he was faking it.

"I'll be waiting," he muttered in the direction they'd gone, his smirk tainted with a tinge of worry. If they'd stayed much longer, he might've passed out, what with his heart seizing up from the lightning. Never mind termination, he could've died _literally_.

 _Really gotta find my Ashikabi_ , he thought as he bounded off. _And hopefully, she'll be at least be more cheerful than_ those _two_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato doubled over, once again out of breath. He'd found a small plaza surrounded by buildings and dumpsters, and hoped the urban wall would conceal them.

Musubi sank to the ground, her heart hammering in her chest and the heat in her body having only grown more intense. She looked at Minato, the man who'd literally carried her out of danger as her body had rebelled against her. Now she lay against the stone, surprisingly comfortable, just wanting to relax and let the heat within wash over her some more.

Minato turned his gaze upon her, and smiled through shortened breath, happy that she was safe. He'd been grateful for Kagedansu's distraction, as when the man had issued his deafening challenge to the lightning twins, none amongst the three had taken notice of him as he'd run off, Musubi in tow. Just his lot in life, he supposed. He wondered, though, how Kagedansu had known Hibiki and Hikari were about to strike when they did.

"I'm only going to ask one more time…"

If he lived through this, he needed to ask Kagedansu to teach him that trick.

Minato looked up and saw the blue-clad twin, Hikari, approaching him. Looking behind him, and right on cue, there was Hibiki, blocking the only other path out. He sighed and flopped down against the wall, tilting to rest against Musubi, his unkempt black hair dragging along the brick. He had nothing left. He'd given it his all, but it just wasn't enough. Musubi lay next to him, eyes still half-closed in her trance-like state. She opened her eyes, gripped Minato's shoulder and pulled her face up to his, looking deep into his eyes.  
"Mu- Musubi-san?" Minato asked, not sure what she was trying to do. _Wait a second…_

The twins, having the same revelation, raced forward in a panic.

They were too late, as Musubi's lips met Minato's and their contract was sealed.

The heat in her body condensed itself into a sphere next to her heart. She felt it zip along her insides, stripping away all her worry and fatigue, shooting to the ends of her limbs and back again. It was the most wonderful sensation that Musubi had ever felt, more potent than any amount of training, more satisfying than any amount of food. When it had finished circumnavigating her extremities, it swirled around inside her abdomen, massaging her belly, before riding up her spinal column and bursting out of her back. White wings sprang from her symbol, the sign of her emergence as a Sekirei.

Recognizing the threat to her Ashikabi, Musubi arose, a newly lit fire in her eyes.

" _By the f_ _ists of my contract, my Ashikabi's perils **will be shattered!**_ "

Reciting her incantation, she felt her already mighty strength surge along with her confidence. Springing forward, she lashed out at Hibiki. The magenta-clad Sekirei, not wishing to suffer the same fate as her sister had at the hands of the _last_ gi-clad brawler, quickly muttered her own _norito_ and threw up a barrier of lightning in response. Musubi's fist met the wall dead-on and actually seemed to crack it. Both Sekirei exerted their strength to the max, locked in a stand-off, both powered by their prayer.

The other lightning twin, meanwhile, had stormed over to where Minato sat.

"You idiot!" Hikari said, grabbing Minato by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Never mind that we're not supposed to target Ashikabi…"

Minato's hope rekindled itself. Could it be…?

A torrent of wind blew in from behind Minato and blasted Hikari back, tearing her hands free of him. A familiar pair of legs landed in front of him, their upper half concealed by a form-fitting dress. The thought unintentionally crossed Minato's mind to sneak a peek at what lay underneath, but he was too polite.

"Keep your paws off of him," Kazehana commanded, with all the regal authority of a queen.

Hibiki's concentration slipped, ever so slightly, when she saw who had come to Minato's rescue. In that moment, Musubi's fist broke through her lightning barrier, shattering it like glass and catching Hibiki in the cheek. Her teeth rattled around inside her jaw as the Lightning Sekirei stumbled back, thankful that she could still move her mouth. Shooting Hikari a look, who was in the process of being slammed by another hurricane wind, they both agreed that it was time to go. They didn't fight winged Sekirei on principle, and both of them had just about enough rotten luck for one day. Hikari spun herself in mid-air and pushed off a wall on the other side of this makeshift arena, the wind flowing around her to break against the bricks. Hibiki, meanwhile, went straight for a nearby ledge, following her sister out of sight.

After she was certain they weren't coming back, Kazehana turned and sprang at Minato, crashing her chest against his and wrapping her arms around him. He nearly fell over, but he didn't; she lifted her mouth next to his ear.

"You didn't show up after class ended, and I can't keep making excuses," she told him softly, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I missed you."

Coming down, Kazehana began dusting off the scorch marks on Minato's clothes, Minato doing the same after he realized how dirty they must've gotten.

She stopped when she noticed the youthful, buxom girl standing behind him, who had emnot/em departed the scene, was instead hopping up and down, giddy with excitement.

The purple-clad Sekirei looked back at her Ashikabi, raising an eyebrow.

"Interesting day, lover boy?" she asked. She couldn't _wait_ to hear his story on this one.


	7. Second Night of the Good Life

"No, wait, it's not what it looks like, I swear!" Minato stammered, waving his arms out in front of him. "I was walking home when I heard thunder and then Musubi-san crashed into me so I took her to MOS Burger-"

"Two seconds after meeting her and you already took her on a date?" Kazehana pouted disapprovingly. "Am I not good enough for you, Minato?"

Minato spoke words but his 19-year-old-male instincts told him there was no right thing he could say. He babbled about lightning and stores and how his wallet had been mugged by Musubi's appetite, but Kazehana was having none of it. She kept glowering at him, her cherry red lips pursed in a way that didn't suit her lovely features at all.

"Minato?" Musubi asked from behind him. "Who's this?"

Minato didn't hear; the hot water he was in was bubbling too loudly.

After she'd strung him along for about a minute, Kazehana cracked and starting chortling, unable to keep up the act any longer.

" _And then we found **another** Sekirei-_ Kazehana?"

Her arms were around him and her chest pressed to his. "You're just too easy, Mina-kun."

She gave him a kiss on the lips, igniting her pink wings. An elderly man living on the top floor of one of the surrounding buildings happened to be looking out the window when it happened, and upon shambling over to the bathroom, realized he'd forgotten to take his medication that morning. Damn telemarketers...

Meanwhile, the bright wings also lit a light bulb above Musubi's head.

"Oh, okay!" Musubi chirped. She bowed to her sister Sekirei. "I'm Number 88, Musubi. Nice to meet you!"

"Number 3, Kazehana," the other woman replied, mirroring Musubi's gesture. "So, how about we all go home?"

"Where's that?"

"At an inn a few blocks from here," Minato said, looking at her and causing Kazehana's second kiss to land on his cheek.

"Need a lift?" asked the raven-haired woman attached to him.

"I'll carry him!" Musubi exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "It's the least I can do for making Minato run so much!"

"And it's the least _I_ can do for not getting here sooner," Kazehana countered, disentangling herself and strutting over to Musubi.

Minato saw the electric sparks starting to fly between their eyes, and had a feeling this playful little argument might take awhile. And while the sight of the two women assertively pushing their busts together _di_ _d_ have its appeal...

Well, maybe he could watch just a _little_ longer; after all, if Musubi was anything like Kazehana, she wouldn't mind, either. And now that he could compare, it seems Kazehana only _just_ edged out Musubi in the breast department.

The Ashikabi shook his head. "Hey, Kazehana?" he asked, sticking a hand behind his back. "One finger or two?"

Kazehana smirked at this. "Out in public, Minato? I didn't think you were so daring."

While the ronin sputtered his flustered retort, Musubi hopped forward. " _Two!_ "

At which Minato got a hold of himself and revealed his hand, showing that yes, two fingers were held up.

"Better luck next time, Kazehana," he said, the red in his face fading as Musubi took him by the hand and leapt into the air.

 _Minato can be such a spoilsport sometimes,_ Kazehana sighed internally, following close behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't worry. Miya can be a little..." Minato paused, trying to find the right word as they walked through the front gate of Izumo Inn.

"Terrifying?" Kazehana chimed in.

Minato nodded. "Yeah, but she's a good landlady."

"If a little strict..." Kazehana murmured to herself. Miya's hardline stance on lewdness really got on Kazehana's nerves, more so because she'd been a lot more lenient while her husband had been alive.

At the upper window, a silhouette observed the new arrivals. She leaned on the frame, her form obscured by the blinds, tiny slivers of light peeking through to reveal snippets of her curvaceous form.

 _So, that guy became her Ashikabi after all_ , she thought to herself. Well, there would be hell to pay for that later. She never should've warned Kazehana of her presence, just attacked her like she'd done to the rest. Urgh, how could she have been so _stupid?!_

As the unseen figure continued to flagellate herself, neither she nor the three below realized there was another pair of eyes, watching Minato with devious intent from elsewhere inside, already scheming to get to him by the time he'd disappeared from her view.

Back down below, an effeminate-looking grey-haired man appeared in the doorway, dressed in a well-pressed grey suit and form-fitting black jeans.

"Welcome back," the grey-haired man said as he passed them on his way out.

"And where are you going, Kagari?" Kazehana asked as she and Musubi pulled Minato through the door.

"To work," he said. "Can't keep my clients waiting."

 _Work. Right,_ Minato thought. Having a job would certainly be nice. Thankfully, he hadn't failed the entrance exam yet, so his mother hadn't brought the ax down on his allowance. Again, not yet.

As they went through the front hall, Miya looked up from the stove.

"You're just in time. Dinner's almost ready. But first," she said, thrusting her spatula at Minato and Musubi. "You two, into the bath, _separately_."

Minato sighed. He might've expected as much, considering how ragged he must look from being charred by lightning. Kazehana didn't seem to mind, pulling him on Minato's shirt as Musubi trotted down the hall, eager to bathe for the first time in days.

"Second door on your left, dear!" Miya called.

"Got it!" Musubi hollered back.

Kazehana still had a deathgrip on Minato's tattered shirt as she led him upstairs.

"So what we do until your bath is ready?" she asked.

"I'd like to just lie down for a while, Kazehana. I'm feeling kind of, well, filthy," he said, gesturing to his still-scorched clothes.

She stopped once they'd reached the top and turned to him. Her eyes flashed mischievously and she rested her head next to his ear.

"Funny, so do I," she whispered, and began to caress his leg with her own.

"Now, Kazehana, you know better than to do that within the grounds of my inn," Miya said, having spontaneously appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

A frightening hanyo face peeked from behind the landlady's shoulder. "Right?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Musubi sighed as she sank deeper into the hot water. There were few things she liked more than a hot bath, those things being food, fighting and training to fight. Minato being in her life expanded that list to a quartet.

As she took a sponge and began scrubbing her arms, she heard the door open. Another brown-eyed girl was preparing to get in the bath. She had her hair partially tied in a pony-tail that stuck out of the left side of the crown of her head, the rest of it flowing down behind her. The towel wrapped around her chest did nothing to hide her ample breasts.

"Hello!" Musubi beamed.

"Hi there!" the girl chirped, having up until that point been wondering who would post an "Occupied: Women" sign for an empty bathroom. "You just moved in here, right?"

Musubi nodded. "Yup. I just met my Ashikabi, and he was nice enough to-"

That's when Musubi caught a glimpse of the mark on her potential bath-mate's back, as the girl turned to hang up her towel.

"You're a Sekirei, too?" she gasped excitedly.

"Yeah," the brunette replied. "I'm-"

Musubi sprang out of the tub, her new adversary's bangs billowing in the wind of her uppercut.

"Wait," cried the girl, "we're not allowed to fight here!"

"I'm Number 88, Musubi! I'm a fist-type!"

The brunette yelped as Musubi swung again, missing and punching a hole in the paper door. Sliding under her adversary's outstretched arm, the girl grabbed her towel off the rack next to her head and burst through the door, looking to escape. Musubi, securing a towel of her own, pursued.

The brunette rounded a corner and leapt up to the top of the stairs, never touching one step. Musubi did likewise and they both found themselves in the hallyway. Eager as ever, Musubi rushed forward with another punch that her opponent bobbed beneath and dove past. The chase was on again, but not for long, for as she turned at the head of the stairs, she found Minato taking the last step up to his new room. The pair's confused and garbled cries of panic were heard throughout the house as they tumbled down the flight. The girl landed on the bottom of the pile, rolling once before slamming into the wall, sitting up against it.

Meanwhile, Minato landed perpendicular to her, his extremities splayed out as he rolled sideways, up her legs and on to her soft abdomen, the right side of his ribcage coming to rest up against her toweled chest.

Musubi arrived at the top of the stairs. Seeing her Ashikabi in the clutches of another Sekirei, she sailed down, skipping all the steps and winding up for another punch.

"Wait! Musubi! Hold on a second!" Minato stammered, flailing his arms.

A gust of wind heralded the arrival of his savior, but to Minato's surprise it wasn't Kazehana. The landlady Miya bolted in front of the prone duo, holding a pot lid like a shield, and caught Musubi's earth-shattering punch without so much as denting it. She then bopped Musubi on the head with her ladle scolding her.

"There is to be no violence in Izumo Inn, is that clear?"

"Okay…" Musubi whimpered. Musubi rubbed her head and lowered her eyes in shame, like a child who'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

It took Minato a second before he realized he was still lying on top of the brunette girl. Springing up, he apologized as she climbed to her feet.

"It's fine," she said. "I'm Uzume, by the way."

"Sahashi Minato, pleased to meet you," he replied, bowing his head.

Musubi had already introduced herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato lathered more soap into the sponge, collecting the day's events into his head. He'd managed to stay cognizant throughout the course of his cram classes, which was good since entrance exams were waiting for him at the end of the week, time forcing him ever-closer to the cannon's mouth.

Then he'd run into Musubi, then those twins, and then into that larger but just as over-enthusiastic Sekirei, No. 67, who of all things called himself "Kagedansu".

Minato also wondered if, given the man's similar attire and lack of weapons, he might also been a fist-type.

But then, one thing had led to another until Musubi had winged herself on his lips and become his second Sekirei. MBI, the company running the city-wide Sekirei tournament, had delivered a change of clothes for Musubi while she and Uzume had finished their bath. It frightened him a little that they had not only gotten his new address so quickly, but also that Musubi had become his Sekirei. He hadn't even moved his things from his old apartment yet.

Minato let out a weary breath. It would've been nice to bathe with his Sekirei, but he wasn't about to challenge Miya. That woman hid daggers behind her smile. Dinner was fast approaching, as was tomorrow.

He wondered if Musubi would be the last. It hadn't occurred to him that multiple Sekirei could share an Ashikabi. And it only now occurred to him that given the women's confrontation over who would ferry him home, he might find himself in the middle of a fierce tug-of-war should a more... _possessive_ member join their group.

That in mind, he was simultaneously disappointed and glad that Miya had insisted he bunk by himself, his two Sekirei sharing a room next to his.


	8. So Begins the Dance

The ronin awoke that morning to find his arms pinned to his sides. He panicked for a moment, before his brain finished switching on and the rest of his senses kicked into gear.

What had him trapped were a pair of nubile women. Kazehana on one side and Musubi on the other, the two buxom belles had his lanky arms engulfed in their cleavage, hugging him as a double-down on not letting him escape. Kazehana's head rested on his shoulder, her porcelain thigh having crawled up his own. Musubi was practically on top of him, her left boob pressed against his ribs and his. Despite their differing positions, both ladies slept with smiles on their faces.

"Hey, um, guys?" Minato asked. It's not that he didn't enjoy being here, it's that he had places to be and his arm had fallen asleep under Musubi.

Said brunette was the first to stir, her eyelids crawling to the top of her walnut iris.

"Hi, Minatooo..." she sighed, then leaned up to give Minato a peck on the lips. She'd jumped the gun, and so her aim was off, but the ronin was happy to take a kiss on the cheekbone. She then slid back down to re-nestle herself against his side.

"Musubi," he said, struggling to get his arm out from beneath her. "It's morning."

The Sekirei lazily opened one eye. "Sooo?" she whispered, before tightening her grip.

"So I kind of have to get up," he said. " _For cram school_..." he grumblingly added.

"Do you _haaave_ to?" Musubi breathed, snuggling up against him and mirroring Kazehana, her temple resting on his deltoid.

 _Do I have to._ Now, that wasa good question. What the heck was he still doing going to school? School was for normal people with normal lives and normal futures. School did not help deal with now _two_ affectionate women, both with superpowers, living with him. Neither did school let him content with this death tournament that he'd been roped into-

 _So far, I'd say it's worth it,_ he thought, glancing between the two feminine beauties.

-run by a madman who also happened to be one of his girlfriends' ex. So why the _hell_ was he still dragging himself out of bed every day? Why the-

 _Minatooo..._ The shadow that loomed over him made him shrink like a sponge under a heat lamp. _So you're telling me... That as a nationally recognized student... You're quitting college... **So you can sleep with**_ **how _many girls_ _?_**

Musubi felt him trembling and awoke fully, seeing that her Ashikabi had turned white as a ghost.

" _Mom,_ " he gasped.

Musubi's smile returned. "Silly Minato, I'm not your mom, I'm your Sekirei."

He bolted up right, tearing himself free of the brunette, though somehow Kazehana not only remained attached, but her curvaceous body came up with him. He'd frightened himself so well that he didn't even notice that neither Kazehana nor Musubi were wearing anything other than panties, and Kazehana didn't even have _that_ much!

" _Can't get Mom angry_ ," he wheezed.

"Aaw, but I wanted to stay in bed this morning," Kazehana teasingly groaned, resting her head on his shoulder and rubbing her chin against him, like an affectionate cat. She reached up to turn his face towards her waiting mouth, taking no chances this early in the morning. Her aim was dead-on, and as her tongue coiled around his her wings flared to life to affirm it. She pushed her lips harder against him, because if he was going to be away for a good quarter of the day, then Kazehana wanted as much of him as she could get.

The sound of the door sliding open didn't end their morning make-out session. What _did_ break it was the angry spatula descending from on high to give them all a good whack.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Have a good day, Minato!" Musubi called, waving to him.

Minato looked up at the building before him, which seemed to loom taller and darker the more he stared. He felt like an unlucky soul who was returning from the ice of Siberia to the warm shelter of the local Gulag. Well, maybe not the first half, considering what he'd woken up to that morning.

If nothing else, he'd only have to put up with this for a few more days. Then, pass or fail, he'd be free to spend time with Musubi and Kazehana. And just like that, his late-adolescent mind started to fill with all sorts of scandalous imagery. He was so entrenched in the budding fantasy that he managed to walk his face straight into a wall. A _real_ wall, not a Sekirei.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Out in the city, as the afternoon trudged on, No. 67, the Shadow Sekirei continued his search for his Ashikabi. He'd avoided the notorious Lightning Twins whenever the crackle of thunder reached his ears, for he'd been lucky during their last encounter, that they hadn't just blasted the entire rooftop with lightning and been done with it. On the other hand, the shock might've saved him the trouble of defibrillating himself. But the chances of that happening ranged from slight to impossible, and he wasn't about to push his good fortune again. A fickle mistress, that one. Just like he was discovering now, for alas, no matter where he went, his body refused to yield any hint of his Chosen One. So he'd resigned himself to stand atop this roof and maybe _spot_ his Ashikabi.

Actually, we wasn't sure what would happen. His handler had tried to spin him a yarn about how he needed to _sleep_ with his Ashikabi to get his wings, but a quick word with other Sekirei had dispelled that notion. Now, if his tuner's other subject had just given him the time of day, not helped by the fact he'd been an absolute _gremlin_ during his youth, a simple in-joke might not have spiraled into a paranoid misconception.

"No symbol?" came an effeminate voice. "Perfect!"

Kagedansu suddenly found his arms pinned to his sides by a length of black cord. He maintained his footing as someone far weaker than him tried to pull him off-balance. He nonchalantly turned around and saw not one, but _two_ Sekirei, standing at the other end of the whip. The first, his attacker, wore a black dress with a wide yellow strip plastered down the middle, and black leggings that ran up to her thighs. She had her long blonde hair tied into pigtails, and the some trappings in the form of white lace gloves and black heels. Why anyone would wear heels to a fight, Kagedansu could only guess.

"I'm sorry, can I help you?" he asked, insincerely polite.

"We need you to come with us. Our master is waiting for you," said the other one. She wore a white kimono that bisected at her chest. Chains adorned her top: one around her neck that began and ended somewhere in the depths of her cleavage, another that ran across the V-cut of her dress. Partially hidden by her auburn hair was a crimson Sekirei symbol, emblazoned on her forehead.

Kagedansu flashed a toothy grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, so move it already!" grunted the first, struggling against his solidity. Pff, as if a skinny little twig like her could move _him_.

"Well, 'scuse me, but aren't you supposed to give your name and number _before_ you start the fight? It's only fair, after all," Kagedansu said. "Here, lemme show you."

He bowed, causing the twig to stumble back a bit.

"I'm Sekirei No. 67, Kagedansu."

"No. 38, Mitsuha," she growled, ignoring the oddity of his name. "Now will you please stop being so stubborn and just get a move on?!"

Kagedansu's attention jerked to Mitsuha's silent companion. " **YOU HEARD HER!** **IT'S OFFICIAL!** "

Mitsuha suddenly found herself speeding towards her captive, yanked by her own cord. He didn't even kick her, merely raising his foot and letting her face collide with his heel.

"So tell your master to go shove it."

Mitsuha was about to get up when he brought the hammer of justice down from on high and smashed her back down with his fist. He had a mind to terminate her right then and there, but unfortunately he couldn't use _norito_ until he found his Ashikabi. It wouldn't be a problem, if not for...

The woman was staring blankly at him, then to her fallen partner, then back at him.

"You next or not?" he asked, resting a fist on his hip. "Because I kinda got things to do."

She gave them each one more look, then spoke. "I'm broken, so I have no number," she said. "My name is Akitsu."

"Now how does _that_ work? All of us have numbers."

"I was made unwingable, cast away like trash. It's why I am The Discarded Number."

Kagedansu's forehead wrinkled as his brows raise. "Ooooooh..."

The Shadow Sekirei shifted his feet and pursed his lips, feeling very awkward. He remembered her now, from a few nights ago when he'd stumbled upon her in that park. Seemed the snot-nosed brat had taken her in, though Sixty-Seven doubted it was out of kindness. Still, wouldn't help for Akitsu to hear him say that. So instead, he nodded at the unconscious girl lying next to his left foot.

"Didn't plan on helping her?"

"I thought she was enough," Akitsu said, aimlessly staring at her companion's body, noting the crest that remained. "I suppose I was wrong."

"Pff, ya think?"

Icicles materialized around Akitsu, and Kagedansu got a sinking feeling in his gut. It was well-founded, for in the next instant he was dodging a hail of chilling blades shooting towards him. As Kagedansu evaded, he remembered his tuner mentioning something about several Sekirei who didn't use weapons or bare knuckles, but could actually control the elements themselves. Wait, what was he talking about? He'd seen it, first hand, from the other Sekirei his tuner had adjusted! And if Akitsu was as tough as his old non-acquaintance, then he was neck-deep in dark waters. Now, if he could just remember what else they'd said. Something important, something that could probably help him out right now.

Wait, now he remembered! The elementals were all glass cannons: able to dish it out, but no _way_ could they take it. Provided, of course, Kagedansu could land a hit.

The Shadow Sekirei avoided another flurry of razor-sharp ice-knives and tried to formulate a plan. He began running full-tilt around Akitsu, looking to get at her back. She twisted her lithe body around to follow him, making sure to keep her eyes on him, forcing him to flip and roll around more ice conjured beside her. As he reached the second cycle of his orbit, Kagedansu's form shimmered and vanished as his camouflage enveloped him. He stopped as soon as he was concealed, and saw Akitsu's eyes continue on, just for an instant.

Kagedansu chose that instant to strike, taking long, heavy strides towards her. She reacted by freezing the ground around her, thus throwing him off-balance and robbing his incoming kick of most of its force. A quick ice barrier halted it, and another stopped his follow-up punch aimed right at her face.

Master had warned her about this one, and his tricky ways. Too bad she'd forgotten it along with her underwear; Mitsuha might have fared better. When she lowered the wall, however, her target was gone. She scanned the nearby rooftops for him, then the sidewalk, before spotting a shimmer a block away. Instantly, she took off in pursuit, but lost him again when he cut left and passed under a grove of trees.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two days down, three more to go. Minato was marching ever-closer to the guillotine that was the Tokyo University entrance exams. All he ever seemed to learn, in this house of horrors, was how much he didn't know.

He spied Musubi down the street, dressed in her usual white gi and red skirt, hopping up and down and waving to him.

"Minato!" she called, causing several males to follow her gaze. If looks could kill, Minato knew he'd be a pair of smoking shoes right now.

Crossing the throng of envious glares, Minato's woes blew away when Musubi threw her arms around him. This close, he realized the bubbly girl was heavier than she looked, his feet stumbling back a few steps.

"It's like you read my mind, Musubi," he said, prompting his Sekirei to giggle.

"Silly Minato, I can't read minds!"

Although, speaking of windy things, Minato wondered where Kazehana hadn't shown up to greet him. Surely she hadn't agreed to let Musubi have him all to herself for the day, did she?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A different sound reached his ears as Kagedansu ran by a store that specialized in foreign imports. Instantly, he stopped. It was music, but not the traditional Japanese music that he'd caught bits of inside MBI Tower. Nor was it the sound that his tuner had played on her violin. It was something else, something he'd never heard before. It speared right through his body and rooted him to the ground, so entranced was he by the sound. The lyrics were in a foreign language, English, he believed, so he could only grasp at a few words. Training to beat 107 other super-powered life-forms didn't leave much time for learning a second language, despite his best efforts. Nor did hunting day and night for his life-long partner.

Of course, maybe he would have more luck if he was any good at schmoozing women. He wasn't, however, so his chances of success were left ranging from slight to impossible. Still, hadn't stopped him from trying.

"Like it?" a deep, deadpan voice asked. The Shadow Sekirei snapped back to Earth and looked down to his left.

"I find it quite enjoyable myself," said the voice once again, still as dry as a desert. The plus-sized man took in the sight of a rather scrawny youth, a full head-and-a-half shorter than him. He had a gaunt face and long, bony arms poking out of the sleeves of his T-shirt. His black hair cascaded down his head, parting in the middle to expose his face. A pair of narrow-lens sunglasses sat on his rather long nose and his hands were stuck in the pockets of his overly-baggy pants. The toes of his sneakers poked out from underneath the cuffs of said pants. If not for the leering skull-faced man that scowled at the outside world from the front of his T-shirt, one might think he almost looked pretentious.

No. 67 found it hard to believe that such a deep, masculine voice had come from the mouth of such an unassuming individual. Why, he looked like he might snap in half if someone coughed on him too hard. Whoever this kid was, he really needed to eat a cheeseburger, or _something_ , because-

 _Priorities, Kagedansu, priorities_ , the Sekirei thought to himself. He was still being pursued, and he couldn't tell this stranger about the Plan or else the Director would have him for lunch.

Leaning forward and clasping his hands together, he asked, "What is that…" he trailed off, fidgeting, unable to find the right word to describe what he was hearing.

"It's called rock 'n' roll," the kid said, still as stone-faced as before. "British-American genre."

 _Rock 'n' roll_ , thought Kagedansu. His heart raced. There was something primal, something invigorating about it that rocked his soul to the very core, made him want to go out and conquer the world.

Suddenly, finding his Ashikabi didn't seem as vital for some strange reason.

"Tell me more about this 'rock 'n' roll'," he said excitedly, following the youth into the store.

Outside, Akitsu leapt over to where she thought she'd spied him. The Discarded Number looked around for a bit, but saw no sign of Kagedansu anywhere. Lowering her head, her abandonment complex flooding her mind like a monsoon, she resolved herself to return with her comatose partner and face Hayato's ire alone. She only hoped that he could find it within himself to forgive them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana twirled her hand and a whirlwind spun the oncoming silk away, its bladed edge softening as it unwound. Her other hand clutched an empty bottle, previously filled with sake.

"Why so enthusiastic?" she asked her white-clothed opponent, sending a gust of wind at her. The veiled girl dove to the side and rolled to her feet, coming to a stop near the lip of the roof.

"Sekirei are supposed to fight until only one remains," her opponent replied, her groping silken tendrils arcing through the air. "Isn't that what The Sekirei Plan is about?"

"Maybe, but it's tradition to introduce yourself before attacking," Kazehana replied, lowering her arms and leaping to the side as the veils swooped past her. "And neighbors usually don't greet each other this way."

The veiled Sekirei halted, her headsman's choppers hanging above Kazehana's head. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"Since you asked…"

Kazehana leapt up in the air as the veils snapped down to encircle her. Another burst of air buffeted her opponent's veil and she strained against it. Landing behind her, Kazehana yanked the veil off of her head and placed a finger on her exposed Sekirei crest.

" _That_ 's what I'm talking about, Uzume."

The brunette froze, her eyes wide with fear, her side-tied pony-tail wavering in the wind.

"Why weren't you this strong last time?" Uzume asked breathlessly.

"Last time, you caught me in the middle of reacting to Minato. I couldn't exactly bring my A-game." She could feel Kazehana's finger between her shoulder blades, and small wind tunnels forming around her ankles to sweep her up should she try anything. "Thanks for not turning him into kabob, by the way."

Kazehana's sincerity did nothing to assuage Uzume's dread. One quick incantation from Number 3 and everything would be over. Her Ashikabi would be left alone, lying in her hospital bed, no one left in her life. At the thought of it, Uzume felt an enormous pain swell up in her chest, and a knot tie itself in her throat.

 _Chiho, no…_

"Wild guess: there's more to this than whatever you were about to sell me," she said, her finger pressing harder on Uzume's crest. "Am I right?"

Number 10 silently awaited the incantation, but it never came.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal," said Kazehana, lowering her hand, dragging all the tension down with her. "I'll let these little incidents slide, _and_ I'll even keep your double-life a secret…"

An empty liquor bottle was lifted in front of Uzume's face.

"For more sake!"

Try as she might, Uzume couldn't stop a guffaw from escaping. She might've expected as much; everyone had their Achilles' heel, and Kazehana's was the sauce.

"Don't you think it's a little early to start drinking?" she joked, looking over her shoulder.

Kazehana laughed. "Uzume," she smirked, gripping her friend about the shoulders, "it's _always_ the right time to start drinking."


	9. The Pact Made, Their Fates Sealed

Kagedansu followed Izanagi out of the store, his mind still digesting all the new stuff he'd seen. He'd stood by and pestered both the youth _and_ the proprietor over and over again about, "What's this thing?" and "What is _that_ all about?" and "I-rohn Mai-dehn? Who are _they?_ " Eventually, the shop keep, a middle-aged Japanese man with a beard he could go fishing with, rattled off a long song making fun of the Sekirei.

In English, of course, because why would the guy give Kagedansu a chance to find a come-back?

Every mocking cloud had a silver lining, though. Over two hours inside and that tune had been the first time Izanagi's stone-faced mask had cracked to show a grin. It was so fast that Kagedansu almost missed it, but that solitary moment sent a single word drawling through his head like he was Frankenstein's monster.

 _ **Fr-... Frieeeend?**_

As he followed the boy out of the store, the skeletal youth hadn't seem annoyed by his presence, or the constant inquiries that had followed. But then, Izanagi might've been a robot masquerading as a human being, like one of those "Terminators" Kagedansu had learned of. It would certainly explain why the kid never talked to anyone.

Well, then again, he talked to Kagedansu, didn't he? Maybe there was still hope.

Izanagi, meanwhile, had picked up a few compact disks and a DVD of an "old-ish" foreign film. Turns out, despite his lack of expression, he was _really_ into Western stuff, these particular items tracing their origins to Great Britain. The one on top depicted a long-haired man, clad in furs and clutching a two-handed sword, his face marked up with blue warpaint. The Sekirei had asked of the film, but after he was told how it ended with the public execution of the hero, he decided that _maaaaybe_ it wasn't for him.

Now, the CD case beneath it, featuring one of those Terminators driving a muscle car decked with guns through a desert highway with a cybernetic vulture about to land on the roof? _That_ was cool.

Regardless, Kagedansu was glad that they were finally done in that store, because he was starting to feel really hot and the ventilation in there had been terrible. Even with his black gi allowing the evening air to cool him off, it almost felt like he had a fever. Except Sekirei didn't get sick, so it couldn't be that. Regardless, Kagedansu felt like he needed to lie down a bit, so his usual routine of sleep-in-a-tree-until-falling-out wasn't going to cut it.

" _ **PLEASE**_ , Musashibo-san," the Sekirei pleaded, clasping his hands together above his head, "let me room with you for the night! I _promise_ I won't take up much space!"

Izanagi's eyelids drooped a little behind his shades. He hated to see a grown man grovel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana waltzed out of the bar, he black hair billowing behind her, with Uzume following. The sake here had been pretty weak, certainly not enough to get _her_ drunk. Still, she was feeling the buzz, so they were on the right track.

"Well, where do _you_ think we should go?" Uzume asked. A bit of sake had spilled on the yellow star on her magenta shirt. She wasn't about to walk around in her veils, so she'd rushed back to Izumo Inn and changed. And, to her credit, she'd come back to keep her end of the deal, as opposed to, say, running off and disappearing forever.

"I know a place," Kazehana replied. "It's usually full of lonely high school boys, so plenty of free drinks for us."

"'Lonely high school boys', hm?" Uzume smirked at her bestie as they walked. "How would _you_ know how lonely they are?"

"Oooh," Kazehana mirthfully sighed, stretching her arms behind her head, "a woman knows how to pick up on these things."

Uzume's eyes narrowed mischievously, and she leaned closer to the wind-user. "What _kinds_ of things, Kazehana?"

The Wind Sekirei raised a finger and slowly twirled it above her head, all while looking at Uzume. The veil-user took the hint and looked around them. Every person with a bolt and tackle on hand was ogling them, or more specifically, an area slightly below the women's necklines.

Number 10 finished her scan and looked down at her chest, that yellow star smack-dab in the middle, almost like a bullseye. Beside her, Kazehana was still leaning back, her hefty melons jumping a little with each step the well-endowed ravenette took. Returning to her own chest, Uzume reached up with her hands and pushed her breasts together.

She could almost hear the result: five-dozen jaws hitting the ground.

"Now now, Uzume-chan," Kazehana playfully chided, "think of these poor men. What'll happen to them if you keep flaunting yourself?"

"Says the _queen_ of flaunting!" Uzume laughed back.

The bustier bird huffed, shaking her massive chest even more. "I-don't-know- _what_ you're talking about," she smirked.

Rounding a corner, with a fresh gathering of eyes to greet them, an ember of devilishness sparked in Uzume's mind. Matching Kazehana's pace, she wound a hand around the older Sekirei's waist and, keeping her eyes focused solely on her bestie, pulled them against each other. With their breasts, hips and butts now competing for the title of "Squooshiest", Uzume unfurled her free hand and gestured along the network of openings along the middle of Kazehana's dress.

"Need a hint?"

"Oh, but I couldn't impose on you," Kazehana politely retorted, lowering her arms and pulling Uzume _even closer_ against herself. The dozens of eyes that gawked at them looked ready to pop out of their sockets. The black-haired belle leaned in close, a seductive smile on her full lips, and whispered, "Let's see how far we can take this."

Opening her mouth, Kazehana flicked her tongue against Uzume's ear.

And on that day, approximately sixty-four Neo Tokyo men were hospitalized with a case of "the vapors".

The two women broke their press, and their stride, unable to contain their hysterical laughter. The angry stares from about forty-eight wives and girlfriends only made them laugh harder. Uzume had to lean on a window for support; she was ready to fall flat on her face from how hard she was clutching her stomach.

"We're terrible!" Kazehana declared.

"The absolute worst!" the veil-user agreed. When the two finally recovered themselves, Number Three found Number Ten looking into her eyes, a mixture of relief and sorrow that Kazehana knew all too well, unfortunately.

"Thanks for talking me into this, Kazehana," said Uzume. "I needed a night like this."

The Wind Sekirei smiled at her. "Funny way of saying 'forcing you', don't you think, Uzume-chan?"

"Well, however you did it..." Uzume gave a small nod with her head, her brown bangs and side-tail swaying towards her friend. "I'm glad."

"Anything for a friend in need, honey." Kazehana then turned sideways and stuck out her elbow. "Shall we, Uzume?"

Linking arms, the duo took five steps before the brunette halted again.

"Wait a minute!" Uzume turned to her companion. "Why are we _walking?_ For crying out loud,we're-"

She caught herself just in time, the touch of her fingers sealing her lips. Spying a nearby alley, Uzume dragged Kazehana over before finishing her thought.

"We're Sekirei!" she whispered.

"How about a race?" Kazehana lifted her leg like a ballet dancer, high enough that she could kiss her own kneecap. Balancing perfectly on her high-heeled shoe for a moment, she lowered her limb and repeated the move with her opposite appendage. "If you win, _I'll_ buy the first bottle."

"Yeah?" Uzume squatted down, stretching herself. "And what if _you_ win?"

"Then you help _me_ ," Kazehana stated, "re-do our little duet in front of Mina-kun."

Uzume grinned at that. "You. _Bitch,_ " she murmured. "Why would you _do_ that to him?"

"Oh, I don't know. I think it'll help him appreciate how lucky he is."

"Maybe," Uzume conceded. "It's just too bad _you're too slow!_ "

And they were off: one with an unfair head-start, the other with an unfair neglect-to-mention-where-exactly-they-were-headed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Arriving at Izanagi's two-room apartment, Kagedansu beheld what must've been the largest collection of stylized English words he'd ever seen. Izanagi's claim of "dabbling from time to time" with foreign stuff didn't come _close_ to being an understatement. If the youth hadn't been so blandly sincere, Kagedansu would've thought him a liar.

Though the one outlier amidst the collection of posters was a portrait of a karate sensei holding a white square out in front of him, kanji running down the right side of the picture. When asked who he was, Izanagi merely replied, "My personal hero."

The heat in Kagedansu's body had grown considerably since they entered the lobby. Now in the room, he collapsed, breathing heavily. Izanagi casually turned and, saying nothing, helped the large man to his feet. Slinging an arm over one shoulder, he assisted Kagedansu over to the one-man bed. The Sekirei flopped down on it, a hand pressed to his chest.

"You okay, Kagedansu-san?" Izanagi asked, the tiniest, most insignificant amount of concern present in his voice. It made the heat flare up even more.

 _It can't be_ , Kagedansu thought. "Hey, Izanagi-san, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Izanagi replied matter-of-factly.

Chuckle-heaving, Kagedansu continued. "Why'd you agree to take in a stranger like me?"

Izanagi's response was punctuated by a slight shrug. "Mh, I don't mind. You seem like good company."

Kagedansu's body seemed to move on its own. He slowly sat up, his eyelids half-shut in a trance. He knew what was coming, and he was at all-out war with himself over whether or not he should go through with it. The pros were decimating the cons, it seemed.

"What are you doing?" Izanagi asked, an edgy note entering his voice. Kagedansu continued to lean forward, his face growing ever-closer to Izanagi's, his mouth opening, preparing to seal the contract.

A fist slamming into his cheek and sliding across his face snapped the Sekirei out of his stupor.

" _ **Explain. Now**_ ," Izanagi said, the edgy note having exploded into a threatening symphony.

 _Always the quiet ones_ , Kagedansu thought, a shiver of dread crawling down his spine. Well, he was pretty sure he was having a reaction, so he laid it all out for the youth: who he was, his powers, the Sekirei being human-looking aliens, the tournament, Ashikabi, everything he could think of. Izanagi took it the same way he'd taken everything, sans Kagedansu's attempt to kiss him.

"Except I'm straight," he said once the lesson was over.

" **I KNOW! I AM, TOO!** " Kagedansu shot back, irritated, though he wasn't sure what at. "I like a nice rack and a soft, feminine body just as much as the next guy…"

Eyeing Izanagi, he was thankful that his would-be life-partner was about as far off the mark as could be.

"But you're my Ashikabi, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"But do I really have to kiss you?"

Kagedansu thought about it. It had explained to him that the winging was triggered by an exchange of DNA, namely mucosal contact, sooo…

"We could just touch our tongues together," he suggested. "Or you could spit in my hand or something."

Izanagi shook his head.

"No, that's... Worse." He sighed, his stone-faced expression deigning to shift a little. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Screwing his eyes shut and puckering his lips, Kagedansu touched his lips to Izanagi's. He felt the youth's face contort ever so slightly. He didn't like this, either.

What Kagedansu _did_ like, however, was the feverish heat leaving his body, to be replaced by what felt like molten magma, far hotter and yet somehow cooler. The magma within him hardened into rock, then into solid metal, filling his limbs with power. He felt _unstoppable_ , like he could head-butt the Earth itself and the planet would lose. The last trickles of heat exploded from his back in a pair of pitch-dark wings, his Sekirei symbol flashing with beautiful black light that shone even through his equally black gi.

Izanagi witnessed this as he quickly pulled away and let the reaction take its course.

"So, what? You're my-"

" **BROTHER**. **WE'RE GOING WITH THAT,** _ **OKAY?!**_ " Kagedansu bellowed, his eyes wide with hysteria.

Izanagi was not about to object. "Works for me. You're my Sekirei now?" he asked.

"Now and forever," Kagedansu replied, the tension draining from his body as he shook his Ashikabi's shoulder. He then opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue, and gagged a little. "Still don't feel right..."

"Do you _mind?!_ " an elderly female voice shrieked from outside the door. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Izanagi pursed his lips, slightly annoyed. It was only eight o' clock in the evening.

Kagedansu, still high on the power of the norito, got up off the bed, stomped over to the front door and flung it open.

" **THEN TRY HARDER!** " he roared, slamming it shut again. He then turned to his Ashikabi. "I say, we cleanse ourselves with _**DRINK!**_ "

"I say that sounds like a plan," Izanagi responded, rubbing a hand across his lips, trying to make his mouth feel clean again. "I know a place. The owner doesn't check ID so long as high school kids stop at 'buzzed'."


	10. And That's Called Having a Good Time

As Minato lifted the noodles into his mouth, he wondered where Kazehana was. It was getting late, and he was starting to worry. He really shouldn't, since Kazehana was one of the Single Numbers; according to the Lightning Twins (both their reaction and the result of their encounter with her), this was kind of a big deal. Probably off getting a drink, or twelve. Likely the latter.

Next to him, Musubi was mowing down her plate of fish, her attempts to spoon-feed him dropped when Miya presented her with her dinner. Kagari, the other male resident, had once again skipped dinner in favor of his job: hosting a club, according to Miya. He was quite popular there, it seemed.

Minato's train of thought was brought screeching to a halt when Musubi shoved another wad of noodles into his mouth, smiling. He nearly gagged, but smiled back. He knew she was just trying, if a little _too_ hard, to make him happy.

Another pair of eyes observed Minato as he ate, watching him intently from her secret lair on the second floor. Adjusting her glasses, she placed a hand on her chest. She felt her body growing hotter beneath her pink cheongsam dress, and she knew what that meant. Now all she had to do was wait for the right time to _experiment a little..._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, here's to us, brother," Kagedansu declared. He clinked his sake cup against his Ashikabi's beer bottle, spilling a little sake on his robed pants.

"May our deaths be neither horrible nor imminent," Izanagi said in his usual dry tone, tilting his head back and taking a long swig.

Kagedansu chuckled nervously. "Here's hoping?" the Sekirei replied. _Is he always this morbid?_

Looking around, the place was packed, cram students having come to wash their worries away with drink and music. Suddenly, it made perfect sense as to why the owner didn't card people. Having met the owner, who tended the bar, it was good to see that he didn't let his underage customers drink themselves silly.

A flock of male students were gathered on the other end of the bar, all waving yen around. Catching a few glimpses through the mess of bodies, Kagedansu could see that they had surrounded two _extremely_ beautiful women, both laughing and wavering in their seats as the slurped down sake. One wore a Chinese-style skin-tight dress, purple in color, which exposed her flat stomach and massive cleavage. Her long black hair had been tied back, cascading down from the ribbon that bound it. The other wore blue jeans and a pink bellytop with a yellow star on the front, clinging to her slightly lesser but no-less-impressive chest. _Her_ hair was brown and unbound, sans the pony-tail sticking out of the left-top of her head.

Kagedansu had a thing for brunettes, and the sake was already bringing it to the fore, so he couldn't help but stare. Izanagi was leaning back on his stool, staring at the two naiads that had graced the joint with their presence.

"Think we should say hello?" Kagedansu asked.

"I'm fine where I am," replied Izanagi. He took another long shot of beer, some of it dribbling down his narrow chin. Kagedansu's hand shot out to steady him as his sworn brother almost fell off of his seat. It wouldn't do for his Ashikabi to be this off-balance on just his first bottle.

They stayed for a while, observing the two women throw down shot after shot of sake, the brothers sipping their own drinks. There were other girls around, sure, but none could compare to those two, making it pretty easy to spot who was single and who wasn't. Izanagi finished his beer soon enough, and Kagedansu switched to water after his second cup of sake. He knew how much liquor he could hold, and it wasn't much. He was surprised that he'd managed to make it to two, though that's not something he wanted his new Ashikabi to know.

Eventually, the two women got up and shouldered their way through the throng of students, making their way to the door. They'd somehow managed to widdle their way through the entire crowd, because by the time they were sauced-up enough to walk zig-zags without trying, every horny idiot in the bar had run out of cash. Kagedansu turned around in his seat, taking in all the other occupants having a good time, some laughing, some crying, a few running to the bathroom in panic. His eyes narrowed as he spied a trio of rather shady-looking individuals approaching the two buxom women from across the room. From their smiles, he could tell that these three sought to take advantage of certain intoxicated females. Shooting a glance at Izanagi, he got up, his Ashikabi slapping a wad of yen on the counter as he did the same.

Seems happy hour had been cut short.

The brothers briskly navigated their way through the tables and patrons to the entrance. Given that the women were doubling-back on their path every eight steps, unable to walk in a straight line, this was not a challenging thing to do.

"Oh, hi there. Baiagurla drink?" said China-Dress as they approached, waving her empty sake bottle around.

"You two have had enough," Izanagi said, draining the last swig of beer from his own bottle. China-Dress's muddled mind thought this was _very_ hypocritical. "Besides, I think the owner's out of booze."

"Then allow us, as the kind folk we are, to walk them to their home," said one of the shady characters, nearing them.

"No, it's okay, they're in good hands," Kagedansu said, holding up one of his own. He wasn't about to start a fight over something as silly as a pair of wobbly women, certainly not with a trio of weeds like them. Then again, his new brother was pretty spindly himself, so The Shadow Sekirei wisely omitted that last part.

"Maybe they'd like to be in better hands," another sneered, sparking a chuckle from his comrades.

"Yeaaaah, maybwe wooood," said Star-Shirt as a small hiccup escaped her lips.

Izanagi wasn't about to stand for any of this. He flipped his now-empty beer-bottle around in his hand and broke it against the door frame. Next thing Sleaze-Ball the First knew, he was staring at a circle of jagged glass. The Ashikabi snarled something foreign, which Kagedansu didn't catch as his English had only just started to form, but whatever it was, it didn't sound very nice. If looks could kill, those three would be nothing but idle puffs of red vapor; a fact they seemed to realize, because they scrambled away from the spindly kid, feeling his glare burning in to the backs of their skulls as they fled.

Kagedansu let out a sigh of relief. Much as he enjoyed a good brawl, there was nothing to be gained from fighting washed-out highschoolers. Also, Izanagi was apparently a scrapper, or at least tried to play at one. Plus-factor for him.

Tripping up as she exited, Star-Shirt stumbled around and fell against Kagedansu, her breasts sliding down his upper abdomen.

"Wooah, yor hyooooooge," the brunette slurred. Kagedansu suddenly felt dizzy, though he attributed that to the heavy odor of liquor on her breath, not her rather provocative grinding against his chest, her breasts sliding down to stop just above his-

 _Down boy! Priorities!_

Supporting his theory was how his eyes bulged and he coughed, his lungs refusing to allow the miasma of sake-vapor into his body.

" _And you have a beautiful eyes_ ," he wheezed, his own eyes watering. Sliding his hands under her arms, he placed her back on her feet.

"Oohh staaaahpit, yu," she said, drunkenly waving a hand at him. Kagedansu rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger, trying to get the burning gas out.

 _One more excuse to wear sunglasses at night_ , Izanagi thought to himself.

"A'm Oo-z'me, bythuh-way," said Star-Shirt.

"Izanagi," said the Ashikabi, then gestured to his gagging Sekirei. "And Kagedansu."

"Pffff, thaaas nod'a name!" Oo-z'me guffawed.

"Yes it is," said Kagedansu.

"No iss naht!"

"Yeah it is, it's _my_ name!"

"Wuwl, thn _yuuuuu_ ," slurred Star-Shirt, drilling a finger into the large Sekirei's ribs, "don' godda name!"

" _Yeah I do!_ " Kagedansu protested. "I'm Kagedansu!"

"Ana A'm U- _zume!_ " she declared.

"Pleased to meet you!" Kagedansu grinned, offering her a hand.

"Yeah-i'-is!" U-zume shouted, getting more booze-breath in Kagedansu's face and causing his eyes to water again. Despite this, he still managed to give her hand a good shake.

Izanagi addressed Purple-Dress. "What about you?"

"I'm-" Purple-Dress slurred something but Japanese or English, it was garbled in transit.

"'Drunk'," Izanagi translated.

"Naaaah, thas Kaz'hana!" U-zume corrected, a hand catching her about the waist before she could tip herself forward.

"Well," Kaz'hana giggled, "he's-not wrong!"

"So then, where's your house?" the Ashikabi asked.

Kaz'hana clumsily pushed him away. "We khen geh home juss-fine," she drawled, nearly falling over, Izanagi catching her by her waist.

"Don't listen to yourself when you're drunk," he said, slinging one feminine arm over his shoulder and reaching around her back to hold her up. She slurred something that might've been a complaint, but Izanagi could neither tell nor be bothered to care. "Do you remember where you live?"

" _Thah_ way," both women said, pointing in opposite directions.

The males collectively sighed. This was going to be a _long_ walk. Still, virtue was its own reward and all that, and having a buxom woman lean on each of them would certainly make the trip go faster, right?


	11. The Morning After

"Big brother!"

Minato found himself alone in a forest. He was clothed in his usual shirt-and-jeans attire, and surrounded by luminescent plant life. He couldn't quite put his finger on why, but this felt a bit more... _Real,_ for lack of a better word. Ancient religious texts often had their subjects experiencing dream-like visions of the future, and aside from the weird green glow that was lighting up the place, this could easily pass for the park that lay no more than a few blocks from the Inn. It was uncanny, actually.

"Save me, big brother…" a fearful little voice echoed.

He turned to where the voice came from and saw a petite silhouette running towards him, its child-like hands outstretched, fleeing from something. It had named him well, because instantly he began running towards it, trying to do as it asked, though it felt like he was wading through molasses.

The small form ran into his arms and buried her head in his chest, whimpering in fear. Instantly Minato was on the case, pulling her close as her form became more clear. She was a small girl, with long, dark-blonde hair that ran down her back and a little dress that was as green as the glow surrounding them.

"It's okay. You don't have to cry," he said, pressing his cheek to her crown. She sniffed.

"But they wanna take me... I don't want to go..." she sobbed.

"Who's taking you?" Minato asked, angered that someone would try to harm a child.

He saw his breath materialize in front of him in an icy mist. The plants around him began to wither and die as a layer of frost overtook the green form and caused it to curl up like the foliage, cocooning itself in green. Minato heard the sound of metal hack through bark, and one one of the willow trees came toppling down as another one sprang up to take its place, the trees multiplying until they'd formed a thick wall for a winding labyrinth, pushing him and the frost out.

"No! Wait!" Minato cried, his own voice echoing throughout the wood.

He felt the ice ensnare his ankles and creep its way up his legs as the vision faded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato awoke to a pair of lips pressed against his own. He sleepily opened his eyes and found himself staring at the closed eyes of a pretty red-haired girl. He felt a pair of firm breasts pressed against his chest, not unlike Musubi's, and soft thighs straddling his right leg, like Kazehana's, but less toned.

The heat in the girl's body encircled her waist like a sash, sliding down her legs. At the same time, another ring of warmth made its way up her body and like a lover disrobing their conquest. The two reversed and came oozing back to her chest, her golden wings emerging from her back.

"Number 2, the Wisdom Sekirei, Matsu, at your service, Minato," she said. "Now and forever."

Minato blinked, not entirely sure if he was still dreaming.

"And since you're here, why don't you and I go back to my room so we can _experiment a little?_ " she said, squeezing his arms with her hands and emitting a soft cackle.

Suddenly, the dream had become a nightmare.

The door to his room opened, accompanied by the sound of a chainsaw revving up. As it died down, a wooden spoon descended from on high to give everyone a smack on the head: Minato, Matsu, Uzume-

Wait a second…

Minato, rubbing the new lump on his head, looked to either side of him to see the curvaceous forms of Kazehana and Uzume, butt-naked and groaning as they woke up. Seems that the chainsaw, roaring once more, was not mixing well with their hangovers.

"Lewd acts will not be tolerated at The Izumo Inn, Matsu," Miya said, gripping the drop of the spoon with her other hand. She gestured at the nude women with it. "That goes for you two, as well."

The chainsaw revved up again. Uzume and Kazehana clutched their heads in pain. Minato, now hearing it a third time, realized it was actually someone at the bottom of the stairs, _snoring_.

Rubbing his eyes and still in his pajamas, Minato lumbered his way to his door and peered down the steps. Lying at the bottom of the stairs, slumped down, was the living wall from the other day, Kagedansu. However, he was not the one making the noise. Sprawled face-up on top of the large Sekirei's thighs was a long-haired youth, no older than 15, his eyes shut and his mouth hung open. It was hard to believe such a small person could be so loud, especially juxtaposed against a massive slab like Kagedansu.

Minato heard the mumbled complaints from his bedside as Miya rousted his surprise bed-mates from the floor, Matsu sprinting down the hall and through a secret rotating door at the end wall. It was at that moment that Kagedansu slumped down further, accidentally inhaling some of the youth's black hair. He began to snort as consciousness returned to him. His flailing limbs woke the smaller one, now lying on his chest.

Miya came out of Minato's bedroom and slid past him, making her way down the steps. Kazehana and Uzume, having dragged themselves to their feet, shuffled their way to the door, poking their heads out and taking note of the two unexpected guests.

Kagedansu recognized them. They were the two girls whom he and Izanagi had escorted home. His eyes widened and his teeth clenched as his rage began to fester. Oh boy, did he have words for them.

" **YOU** **TWO NEED TO CUT BACK ON THE BOOZE!** " he roared, pointing an angry finger at the two women.

 _SMASH._ As if the younger one's snoring had been bad enough, the shout was like getting swatted in the face by a bus.

Kazehana groaned weakly. "Your voice, it-"

" _ **EVERY SINGLE**_ **INTERSECTION,** _ **ONE**_ **OF YOU HAD TO STOP AND ARGUE OVER WHICH WAY TO GO! I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO TAKE THE REST OF MY DAMN** _ **LIFE**_ **TO** -"

Kagedansu's angry rant was cut off by a large wooden spoon whacking him on the noggin.

"Raised voices are not allowed in my inn, nor is cursing," the purple-haired woman said, retracting the spoon. A demonic visage appeared in front of the sworn brothers. "Is that clear?"

Kagedansu thought he might soil his gi. On top of his clothed thigh, he felt Izanagi shudder in fear.

" _Absolutely_ ," he wheezed, flashing a terrified thumbs-up sign. Izanagi nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful," Miya said, the visage vanishing. "Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

The brothers were up on their feet at blinding speed. Miya took that as an affirmation.

"My head…" Uzume said, lying in a fetal position.

"You deserve it," Izanagi muttered in her direction, frigid as ice. He knew she heard him with her Sekirei hearing. Kagedansu slapped his Ashikabi on the back, steering him towards the kitchen.

"Come on, little brother," he said. He looked up at them. The inferno within still raged, apparently. " _I'm **sure** they've learned their lesson_ ," he hissed, a cheerful grimace shotgunned on to his face.

A door opened and Musubi came out, her blue top hanging on her shoulders and only a pair of panties covering her lower parts.

"Good morning," she said, sleepily rubbing her eyes.

Minato scrambled to get her back inside her room before Miya found out. One headache was more than enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _Scientists are baffled as to how this freak growth occurred, though MBI has assured the public that they are personally looking into the matter."_

Kagedansu wasn't paying the TV much mind, as he was too busy feeding breakfast into his mouth with all the efficiency of a wheat harvester. He wasn't a messy eater, per se, but the rate at which his food disappeared was quite a sight to behold. In that, if one looked away for too long, one might look back and find his plate completely empty, crumbs the only sign that there was anything there to begin with.

"That was delicious," Kagedansu declared. "You're an excellent cook, Asama-dono."

"I didn't hate it," Izanagi stated. Kagedansu sensed that it was his own strange way of complimenting her.

Miya sensed it, too. "Well, you're quite welcome," she said, beaming at the dour lad.

His tank full for the first time in what must've been a week, the Shadow Sekirei looked over to the two birds he and his brother had dragged home from the bar, who were engaged in idle chatter with that other Ashikabi: Minato. He seemed like a nice kid, though his aura was far more potent than Izanagi's. And considering that he'd winged two Sekirei, one of them a Single Number, that wasn't surprising. Kagedansu's brain started pondering what else might come from this unassuming kid, or how many other Sekirei he might wing before the game was over.

Not that it mattered, because Kagedansu planned on winning either way.

Despite his previous outburst, he had found it somewhat amusing to watch the two women drunkenly slur at each other last night. For the first few blocks, at least.

Minato, for his part, was just glad that Kagedansu hadn't challenged either of them to a Sekirei battle in their condition. Knowing his previous enthusiasm for combat, the young Ashikabi wasn't one to rule out the possibility.

"So, you two are what, exactly?" Uzume asked, gesturing at them with her spoon.

"Brothers," they replied, in unison. The manic expression that entered their eyes told everyone that they were not about to discuss the matter further.

"How about you, Uzume-san?" Kagedansu asked. "Where's _your_ Ashikabi?"

Uzume looked down at her food, Kagedansu immediately realizing he'd asked the wrong question.

"She's… Not here," she sighed.

 _I always wondered where Uzume's Ashikabi was, since they don't live with her_ , Minato thought to himself. He was just glad he hadn't been the one to ask.

Kagedansu, meanwhile, feeling the mood turn awkward, quickly stood up and pulled Izanagi to his feet.

"We thank you for feeding us, landlady-sama," Kagedansu said hurriedly, bowing his head. He nudged Izanagi, who also bowed his head, remaining silent.

"And hopefully," he said jokingly, making his way behind Uzume and laying his hands on her and Kazehana's shoulders, "these two have learned to watch their liquor."

Then, in a whisper so quiet that only Uzume could hear it with her Sekirei hearing (or so he thought; Kazehana caught a few words as well), he added, " _Because we should really do this again sometime_. _No awkward questions next time, I promise._ "

Minato was left wondering why Uzume suddenly started, and why Kagedansu had lingered over her for so long. However, as the large Sekirei moved to exit the building, a thought struck Minato's mind.

"Kagedansu-san!" he called, halting Number 67 in his tracks. "That time you saved me, how did you know those two lightning Sekirei were about to attack?"

He momentarily addressed Minato. "I saw their shadows behind you, heard the lightning…" He shrugged. "Wasn't hard to figure out." And with that, they were gone, Izanagi slung under Kagedansu's arm as he went soaring off into the morn.

 _So much for the secret technique_ , Minato thought. Though, there was something else he needed to ask about, something that had bugged him ever since he saw the news report on the living room television. Excusing himself from the table, he made his way upstairs to Matsu's secret room. As Number 67 was not part of his... "group", she was forced to eat her breakfast in isolation. Minato felt for her, having been forced to do the same all throughout his post-high school life. Company, he realized, was highly underrated.

He knocked on the wall. "Matsu-san?"

The hidden door rotated around to reveal his third Sekirei. "You can just call me Matsu, Minato," she said. "What's up?"

"Well," Minato said, walking in and sitting on the floor, "I had this weird dream…"


	12. The Green Girl Awaits

"At first I thought she might be my sister, since Yukari would get lost in the woods a lot, but when she got closer, I knew it couldn't be her," Minato said as Matsu worked her magic on the computers.

Bringing up a Sekirei file, Matsu turned and asked, "Did she look something like this?"

Minato gazed at the screen. Pictured was the portrait of a cute little girl, no older than 8 or 9, long yellow hair reaching almost all the way down the back of her one-piece green dress. Her green eyes were filled with curiosity and tranquility.

"Yeah, I think that's her," he said, squinting at the text. "'Number 108 Kusano. Ability: Plant Manipulation. Status: Active.' So… What does that mean exactly?"

"It says here that she can manipulate plants to grow at an accelerated rate, but her adjustments were never completed."

"Now how could _that_ be?" said Kazehana, appearing behind them and making Minato jump a little. "I thought all Sekirei had their adjustments finished before they were released."

"Um… What 'adjustments' are we talking about?" Minato asked.

"All Sekirei received adjustments and regular modifications on a cellular level as they matured," Matsu stated.

"And by cultivating them as they grew up, each Sekirei ended up with different powers and abilities?" Minato asked.

"In a sense. Not _completely_ different, given all the weapon-types out there, but more importantly those adjustments also help us control our abilities. The adjustments took two stages: the first was the cultivation of each Sekirei's power, the second was limiting its sensitivity so that simple stress doesn't set it off."

"But what does that mean for Green Girl here?" Kazehana asked, taking a swig of sake. It wasn't even half-past-morning yet and already she was in to the liquor.

"Likely that her powers are unstable. Sekirei draw strength from their emotions, and their bonds with their Ashikabis, so she may not be able to control them when she's agitated," Matsu surmised. She turned to Minato. "What are you going to do?

He thought about it. "I'll think about it more when I get back. I have to get to class," he said, standing up.

"Need a lift?" Kazehana asked, setting the bottle down. Minato knew she wasn't really asking, because she already knew his answer.

Soon enough, he was flying through the air, feeling the soft warmth of Kazehana's body pressed against his own. Minato noticed a huge sprawl of plant life had sprung up, seemingly overnight, in a park not far from Izumo Inn. His thoughts inadvertently drifted to Kusano, wondering if she was okay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In her house at the Botanical Garden, the Green Girl waited, dreaming. She shivered in her slumber, her visions tainted by the visage of a massive scythe, bringing with it howling blizzards, mowing down the fauna that surrounded her.

The vision faded, replaced by total darkness. A pair of malevolent yellow eyes leered at her from beyond the abyss. She gazed at something beyond even its own comprehension. Her living body whimpered in fear, and she sensed its smile fade.

Soon enough, this vision faded, too, and she began calling to her big brother once more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Matsu exited her room to use the toilet, she spotted Musubi coming out of her own room, wearing _extremely_ short shorts and a white T-shirt that strained itself against her breasts. She had a mind to grab a handful for herself, though she would've preferred Minato.

 _Still_ , she thought, eyeing Musubi, _if I can just talk her into agreeing, and then catch Minato at the right moment..._

"Where are _you_ off to?" Matsu asked, her plan already coming together in her head.

"Our landlady said she'd start training me today," Musubi said excitedly. She then paused, tilting her head and staring at Matsu. "Wait, who are you?"

Matsu realized that she hadn't officially met Musubi yet, an oversight easily remedied. It seemed experiments would have to wait a while, if Miya was still at home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato sat outside his cram school, the pack lunch that Miya had made for him on his lap. Cramming always made him peckish.

"Spare a bite for the working man?" one of the construction workers asked, approaching him. His white tank top, soaked in sweat, exposed his muscular arms. There was a fair amount of bristle on his jaw; he looked very manly. Minato was glad that his Sekirei had chosen him, because with guys like this in the world, he didn't stand a chance.

"Yeah, sure," he said politely, offering the worker his rice ball.

"You're the best, kid!" he said, snatching up the rice ball and chomping down on it. He stopped as the taste soaked in to his tongue.

"Don't like it?" Minato asked. The man pulled the half-eaten ball away from his face and took a good look at it, then at Minato.

"This is Miya's cooking, isn't it?" he asked, shaking it a little.

"Seo, you jerk!"

The worker's head jerked forward as something hit him from behind, smacking the back of his yellow helmet. Minato didn't notice, because his blood had grown cold. He recognized that voice.

"We said we'd bring you your lunch, so why are you-"

Hikari's jaw dropped as she saw just who it was that her good-for-nothing Ashikabi was mooching from.

"YOU!" they said in unison, pointing at each other.

"Oh, so you've already met," Seo said, eying her cleavage. The maid outfit she wore looked really good on her.

Sparks began to crackle about her hand as her sister, Hibiki, joined them, carrying a sack.

"Cool off, Hikari, it's not worth it," the magenta twin said. Hikari was fuming out the nostrils but did as her sister asked.

The four of them ate lunch together, at varying levels of discomfort, until the foreman yelled for the workers to scram for the day.

"This early?" Minato asked.

Seo swallowed a bite from his sandwich. "Yeah. Apparently MBI's locking down this area. Something to do with the freak plant growth a few blocks down," Seo said. Seeing the absent-minded look in Minato's eyes, he had to ask. "Kusano?"

Minato was agape. "How did you find out about her?"

"My best friend was the head researcher at MBI. I know a thing or two about some of the more… _Unique_ Sekirei. How about you?"

"I saw her in a dream. She was calling for help."

Seo's brow furled and he jabbed a finger into Minato's shoulder.

"Listen, kid, if she was calling for you then that means you're probably her Ashikabi. And if you are, you should get to her soon." He retracted his finger and began collecting the remains of his lunch. "Other Ashikabi might try to wing her so they can force her into their camp."

At this, Minato glanced at Seo's own Sekirei. "Did you-?"

Seo thrust a thumb at the twins. "You really think I could force those two to do anything?"

"We're standing right here, you know," Hibiki said, annoyed. Seo paid it no mind and began to walk away, slinging his jacket over his shoulder while popping the last of his sandwich into his mouth.

In a move that Minato found quite surprising, the two abrasive Sekirei began repeatedly bowing to him.

"We're sorry, we're so sorry," Hibiki and Hikari said. Minato chuckled nervously. Just because their Ashikabi was okay with shameless begging doesn't mean they were.

Seo's words stuck with Minato for the rest of the day, during cram class, even after Musubi and Kazehana came to see him back home. Of note was that Musubi, back in her usual white gi, was sporting fresh lumps on her head. When asked, she sheepishly replied, "Our landlady's really strong."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I know it'll probably be dangerous, but I want to help Ku-chan," Minato declared before his gathered Sekirei, back at Izumo Inn in Matsu's room. "Another Ashikabi, Seo, said that my dream means she's reacting to me, and that I'm meant to be her Ashikabi. He sounded sincere about it, and it sounded right."

"It _was_ right, Minato," Musubi said, taking his hand between her own. "Every Sekirei has a special one that we're meant to be with, and we spend so long trying to find them. This is just Ku-chan's way of finding you, Minato."

"I know, but I wanted to hear what you all thought, first. I mean, it's not like I'll be risking nearly as much if we go through with this. I won't be the one fighting. And it wouldn't be right for me to demand you guys put yourselves in harm's way just like that."

The Sekirei all looked at each other, then back at Minato.

"We'll be fine, right guys?" Musubi asked.

"I don't plan on leaving my Mina-kun," Kazehana cooed. She hugged her massive breasts, making them squish around her arms. "I love him too much to hurt him like that!"

"I wonder why she's calling to you, though," Matsu mused, ignoring Kazehana's schmaltziness. "This isn't something I've heard of Sekirei doing, or Ashikabi experiencing."

"Maybe she sensed his great big heart," Kazehana remarked. Minato felt two arms wrap about his shoulders and two soft objects rest on his head. He looked up, and was immediately blinded as Kazehana's love-pillows smothered his eye sockets.

 _It may be more than just that_ , Matsu thought, even as she moved to Minato's front in an attempt to fight Kazehana for him, in a way that the two found far more appealing: bust-to-bust. She remained locked on Kazehana, not about to let Number 3's greater proportions best her, all while Kazehana smirked and pushed back, ever so gently.

Their fun was brought to a halt not by Miya's Ladle of Wrath but when, as if to confirm her suspicion, Minato's cell phone buzzed. He slid out from between the dueling single numbers and flipped it open, ignoring their harmonious murmurs of protest. The message came straight from the Game Master, Minaka Hiroto himself.

 **The Green Girl waits in the Botanical Garden in the center of town. Perhaps** ** _you_** **could be the one to wing her!**

Minato had a sinking feeling in his gut that told him he wasn't the only one to receive this.

Musubi, it seemed, actually knew how to read. "What are we waiting for, then?" she exclaimed, before pumping a fist in the air. "Let's go!"

"Wait," Matsu said. She began rummaging through the bits and bobs strewn about her work bench. "I have something for everyone..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the interior of his limousine, a light-brown-haired youth closed his cell phone and placed it back in his pocket, smiling. The Green Girl hadn't been winged yet, it seemed. That meant his efforts hadn't been in vain after all.

"We'll just have to be more thorough this time," he said to his sword-bearing companion. He looked up at the chesty woman sitting opposite to him, his eyes darting to the chain around her neck that disappeared into her cleavage. He couldn't help it if her attire drew the gaze to her breasts, but she didn't seem to mind. Then again, Akitsu didn't seem to mind anything.

The youth, Mikogami Hayato, motioned for the driver to stop.

"Get out there and find Yomi," he said, as his companion opened the door to let her out. "You two have a job to finish."

Akitsu nodded obediently. Exiting the car and taking to the surrounding area, she hoped the Green Girl would love being Master's Sekirei as much as she did.


	13. Welcome to the Party

MBI, it seemed, had wasted no time in fencing off the Botanical Garden. They weren't about to let just anyone get in, and so had surrounded the park with heavy infantry backed by military-grade vehicles. These were some of the best fighting men that money could create, armed to the teeth with rifles, rockets, kevlar plate, anti-tank guns, bunker-busting cannons mounted on high-powered armored cars, and, just to put the cherry on this "Sod Off" sundae, an orbital laser satellite watched from overhead. Against any army, this force would be as unstoppable as the tide itself.

"Yoo-hoo, boys!" a sexy voice called.

The soldiers turned and Kazehana made the opening shot, her whirlwind sweeping up a trio of goons, carrying them down the street and depositing them in a heap, their cries of surprise alerting the rest. From down the sidewalk, Musubi rushed an armored car, tipping it over and rolling it on to its side. Its gun discharged, firing a shell high into the air. As it flipped around began to plummet back to Earth, Kazehana's wind swooped around and carried it down to the corner, blasting a crater into the street as another armored car rolled around. The driver was unable to stop in time, the front of his vehicle doing a nose-dive into the hole, both immobilizing it and jamming the muzzle of its cannon into the ground.

"This is so much fun!" Musubi shouted as she slid around the back of another trooper. Before he could react, she'd grabbed his gun and yanked him over her outstretched knee, tripping him up and tearing the rifle free from his hands. Upon witnessing her casually snap it in half, the man decided a hasty retreat was in order.

Minato, from behind the safety of a dumpster, stood in awe. He'd seen them in action against other Sekirei, but he could only appreciate their terrifying power now that he was seeing it unleashed on ordinary humans. A dark thought occurred to him: this was a terrifying power that he and up to 105 other human beings could now call upon, and human beings had a long, blood-stained track record of abusing power.

Thankfully, one of those human beings was Seo, and he seemed like a good guy. Even if he _was_ a shameless mooch.

Kazehana landed opposite him on across the street, leaning forward and placing her hands on her hips.

"Enjoying the show?" she called to him. He was about to respond when he caught sight of a soldier standing half-a-dozen meters behind her, raising his rifle to shoot. A howling gale knocking him off his feet before he could fire, Kazehana touching down on his chest and knocking the rest of the wind from him.

Through the thunder of battle, Minato thought he caught actual thunder coming from the other side of the garden. He wondered how Seo was doing, or why he hadn't tried to meet with Minato on his way in.

Distracted as they were by combat, none of them noticed the back end of a limousine poking out of an intersection a few blocks down, far enough away to avoid the battle, but close enough so that someone inside could get a good view of the fighting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Still trapped in her unconscious state, Kusano felt the rumble of chaos outside of her glowing cocoon. She knew her Ashikabi was near, but she also sensed others, who meant her harm, who wanted to take her away from her big brother. She had to help him, however she could. He would find his way to her; all she had to do was make it harder for everyone else.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Heads up," Matsu's voice chimed in over the earpieces they'd all been given. "You've got two unknowns approaching from the west."

Minato emerged from the side street where his Sekirei had deposited him. The remaining soldiers were falling back, running full-tilt away from the duo's onslaught. Kazehana and Musubi elected not to pursue.

" _Sowhat'snextMinato?_ " Musubi asked, like a child hopped up on too many sweets.

"Er, what?"

"What's the plan?" Kazehana inquired.

"Well, uh, I guess we go in and find her?" He stumbled over his words. It was obvious that he wasn't completely used to the idea of being in charge, especially of two women who'd single-handedly routed an entire platoon. Kazehana thought it was absolutely adorable.

"I can't allow that," a monotone voice echoed. If it weren't for its feminine timbre, it might've mistaken for Izanagi's nonchalant grumble.

Icicles rained down on the three from above. Fear for Minato's safety erupted from Kazehana in the form of a hurricane. The sound of ice shattering meant that Musubi had the ones she missed covered, standing in front of her Ashikabi and swatting the shards aside. Kazehana spied another Sekirei, a slender, well-endowed woman (surprise, surprise) standing before the fence.

The newcomer had a flowing white dress on and a low-cut top that showed nearly a full third of her boobs, as well as her shoulders. A chain was wrapped around her neck with both ends moving down to bisect her cleavage. A second, smaller group of links ran across her partially-exposed chest, almost like they were stopping her dress from falling in two and sliding off her body. What was most striking about the new arrival, however, was the crimson Sekirei symbol emblazoned on her forehead.

That aside, Kazehana decided that she really needed to give Minato a better look at her when they got back to the inn, when he "treated her wounds". This girl had the right idea when it came to presenting herself.

"That's it, Akitsu! Hold these losers while I get the Green Girl!" another Sekirei called out, this one carrying an enormous scythe. She leapt past the fence and sprinted into the garden, a wicked leer on her face.

Well, Sekirei battles were supposed to be one-on-one, so Kazehana readied herself for combat.

"Let's go, Musubi. Kazehana can take care of her," she heard Minato say.

Akitsu attempted to stop their entrance but was caught-off guard by a raging inferno bearing down on her. She quickly threw a roof of ice over her head, the fire burning itself out shattering and evaporating the ice.

Musubi continued over the fence, dragging Minato along for the leap. Kazehana spotted the source of the flame, a grey-haired Sekirei clad in black with a mask covering his face, descending from on high. He waved her in to the garden, signaling her to follow.

 _Some guardian_ he _is,_ Kazehana thought. Nevertheless, she took advantage of his arrival and sailed over Akitsu's head. The Scrap Number allowed her to go, for she would have to contend with The Guardian before she could refocus her efforts on Kazehana. Kazehana, for her part, was glad there was at least _someone_ among the enemy who still respected the one-on-one rule of engagement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

More fire erupted from Homura's hand as Akitsu conjured yet another ice barrier to buffer it. He'd arrived late on the scene, caught up in a promising candidate for his Ashikabi who'd been _very_ chatty with him, further delayed while trying to find a place to change into his battle outfit where no one would catch him. He only hoped that Kusano wouldn't suffer for his delay.

The Discarded Number stood in his way, barring his path. The most he could do now was ensure that she didn't follow Minato's party into the Garden. Thankfully, he knew he was more than capable of holding a woman's attention.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mikogami sat in his limo, Mutsu by his side as always. He'd gotten an eyeful of those Sekirei and their rather impressive display of power. Mutsu had identified the windy one as another single number, Number 3, and a member of the first Discipline Squad. That in mind, their flaming interloper might've actually done Akitsu a favor by taking over. But Yomi might have to contend with her now, and as much as Mikogami placed his trust in his scythe-wielder, she stood little chance when it came down to it.

Mikogami considered his options. His other Sekirei were out and about or back at the house, and at this point it probably wasn't worth calling them. He was already risking a substantial amount of his collection in pursuit of The Green Girl, and he wasn't about to gamble any more. He did the math, and quickly realized that he had enough resources on-hand to deal with the current situation.

"Mutsu, let's get in there and back Yomi up. We didn't come all this way to leave empty-handed," Mikogami told his companion. Mutsu said nothing, simply getting out of the car, taking care not to shut the door on the sword at his hip, as Mikogami followed. The tall Sekirei scooped up the youth under one arm and began hurdling towards the Garden. His blade met the overgrowth soon enough, slowly but surely carving his way towards the center.

Mikogami sighed. All of this because of a little girl's fright. Unbelievable. But that, coupled with the surprising amount of resistance these plants had to Mutsu's blade, just made her more worthwhile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On top of a skyscraper, Izanagi peered through the binoculars as the fighting made its way inward.

"Huh, show-offs," Kagedansu muttered next to him. Izanagi had requested that they not get involved, and the Shadow Sekirei had obliged him. The long-haired teen took the front lenses off his face and glanced at his brother. Despite his words, Kagedansu's half-closed eyes and pursed lips said that he was more than a little jealous. He'd been so looking forward to thinning out the competition, of getting into a scrap, but there were too many single-numbers down there for him to contend with.

Still, Izanagi was glad that the large Sekirei was sitting this one out. Kagedansu may have been over-enthusiastic but at least he wasn't stupid.

The fighting was moving inward, out of his sight. Izanagi sensed his Sekirei's boredom growing now that the show was over. There were the other two down below, but he knew Kagedansu preferred a meatier fight, and those two seemed content to just fling fire and ice at each other. One would throw a fire ball, and the other would disperse it with an ice barrier. Fireball, ice wall. Fireball, ice wall. Over. And over. And _over_ , and _over_ , _and over and over andoverandover **andoverandoverand-**_

That was when the youth decided he had enough of ping-pong by-way-of Ralph Bakshi's eighth feature. And from the way his Sekirei looked ready to fall off the roof with his eyes half-shut, he had a hunch that Kagedansu felt the same.

"'Way of the Dragon' when we get back?" Izanagi asked. Kagedansu didn't seem to hear him at first, so the youth gave him a nudge that, unintentionally, almost sent him off the edge. Kagedansu perked up at this.

"Der-what?"

"Way of the Dragon."

"Sounds like a plan, smaller brother," came the reply. Within a moment, the two had left the Garden far behind as The Shadow Sekirei's powerful legs carried them over the rooftops of Tokyo.


	14. Through the Winding Wood

Musubi remained on guard as she and Minato navigated the twisted labyrinth of plant life around them. If Minato thought Kusano was in here somewhere, then the fist-type knew in her heart that he was right, and it was Musubi's job to make sure Minato found her. If Minato was even half as kind to Ku as he'd been to Musubi, in the two days that she'd known him, then Kusano was had a wonderful Ashikabi to look forward to.

Though had Musubi been a little more on the up-and-up, she might've questioned if Kusano really _did_ want this. The dark jungle really did seem like it was alive, as when Minato had suggested they wait for Kazehana, they'd both turned to find the way back blocked by a literal wall of trees. More than a few times, vines had grown to block a path while receding to unblock another. Willow trees had at one point sprouted branches to hide the from something, they couldn't say what, but the whole place was giving off this uncanny aura of fear, _Kusano's_ fear.

Musubi was brought out of her lack-of-meditation by her Ashikabi's voice.

"Hey, Musubi," Minato inquired, looking over his shoulder as they trudged on, "am I really going to have to... You know... _Kiss_ her?"

"Well… Kusano-chan _is_ a Sekirei," she said. "So I'm pretty sure that's how it'll go."

She beamed at him.

"Don't worry, I'll bet she'll be just as happy to have you as Kazehana and me!"

Minato sighed in resignation. Musubi wondered why. She thought Minato would be glad to have another Sekirei, especially one so cute.

She heard someone approaching from around the next thicket of branches and grasped Minato's shoulders. He halted, and she clenched her fists and rushed around the corner, ready for action.

Only to be greeted by the sight of a familiar pair of twins, plus a man who looked a little older than Minato.

"You!" cried one of the twins (Hikari? Was that her name? Musubi couldn't remember which was which).

"Oh, it's you two!" she said cheerfully. Her eyes shifted to the man, who was staring at her chest for some reason. "Is that your Ashikabi?"

"Not bad," she heard him say. "I wonder if she would be interested in dating an older man…"

This was followed, rather confusingly, by the twins frying him with lightning.

"So, where's your Ashikabi?" the man wheezed, smoke rising from him as he picked himself up. "Or did he chicken out and run off?"

"Minato is not a chicken!" Musubi cried defensively. "He's a person!"

"Wait, Seo? Is that you?" Minato said as he peeked out from the undergrowth.

"Oh, hey there, kid!" Seo said. "I was wondering when I would run into you!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm not here for the Green Girl, if that's what you're asking. Believe it or not, I'm here to help you out."

Minato was a bit taken aback by this. "Really?" he asked.

"You bet, kid," Seo said. "Like I said, she chose you as her Ashikabi. I'm not about to take that choice away from her."

"Well… Alright. I just thought-"

"You think too much, kid," Seo said, interrupting him. "Let's get a move on. We're not the only ones who responded to the email."

Musubi stood there, finger to her chin, confused.

"So, which one of you do I fight first?" she asked.

Minato, after darting in front of her with his arms outstretched, and wheeled her along, trying his best to re-explain what she'd missed while she'd been zoned out, hopping up and down to prep for the fight.

"One thing you and me need to do," Seo said as they strolled deeper into the Garden, "is convince those other dirtbags that Sekirei are people, not prizes."

Musubi still wasn't sure why she wasn't fighting the twins, but nodded in agreement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana was hopelessly lost. She'd gone in after Minato once Homura had shown up to deal with Snow Queen back there, but she must've taken a wrong turn at some point, because by her best guess, she should've caught up to them by now.

"Hey, Matsu, help me out here," she said, touching a finger to the earpiece she wore.

"Sorry, I can only give you a rough estimate, Kazehana," came the reply. "The overgrowth is too thick for me to get a visual on anyone and the trees are interfering with my tracking."

"So am I going the right way or not?"

"You're definitely heading towards someone. A moment ago I caught a glimpse of two unknowns just up ahead. Hopefully it's Minato and Musubi."

"How certain are you?"

"I was able to identify one of them as a male Ashikabi."

"Here's hoping, then," Kazehana said, bounding over the tangle of roots and speeding towards a glimmer of light up ahead.

She found a familiar face, but it was neither one she was hoping for nor one she particularly wanted to see right now. The owner of said face slid his sword back into its scabbard and held it at a downward slant, almost like a broom.

"A friend of yours, Mutsu?" said the youth that accompanied Number 5. He eyed her like a pretentious sculptor inspecting a rival's work. "Maybe I could add _her_ to my collection, too."

"For your information, _kid_ , this woman is spoken for," Kazehana jovially sneered at him.

"Hey, no one talks to me like that!" he exclaimed. He turned to his Sekirei and pointed at Kazehana. "Teach her a lesson, right now!"

"Wow, you sure can pick them, Mutsu," Kazehana said, readying her winds. What a spoiled little brat he was.

"Hello to you, too, Kazehana," he replied.

Tranquil as ever, Mutsu dove at her, thrusting his scabbard at her. She dared not let it touch her, opting to cartwheel through the air and launch a tight ball of air at him. As Mutsu swayed to the side, his sword came out in a blur and sliced it in two before returning to its scabbard. The pressure within the sphere crashed against itself and dissipated harmlessly with a hiss.

As Kazehana landed on a thick limb, he then leaned down and touched the bottom his scabbard to the ground. The earth split in a grid pattern, toppling the tree she rested in. Mutsu wedged the chape of his scabbard in to the gaps he'd created and flicked hard earthen squares at her, tearing through branches as they rocketed through the growth. She dispelled them with a gust of wind, but at the last moment realized that one was actually a heavy chunk of rock. She leapt to the side, aiming for another tree branch, the stone scraping against her waist and tearing a hole in her dress as it flew by.

 _I hope Minato's having better luck_ , Kazehana thought as Mutsu lunged at her again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato had broken off in a mad dash, racing through the undergrowth.

"Hey, kid, why are we running all of a sudden?" Seo called from behind, the twins following.

"I just have a really bad feeling about Ku!" Minato shouted back.

This time, Musubi knew he was wrong. Ku was going to be fine. Nevertheless, she picked up the pace, just to be sure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kusano emerged from her cocoon of wood and sap. The yellow eyes had returned, a little less frightening this time, but she couldn't stand them anymore. Rubbing her own eyes, she looked around at the grove she was in, surrounded by thick roots and glow moss. She'd definitely felt someone nearby before waking, but it wasn't her big brother.

"So, I finally found you," a wicked voice called out. Slowly, fearfully, Ku turned around. A nasty-looking woman stood at the other side of the grove, clad in a black gown with a red bow around her neck. Clasped in her gloved hands was an enormous scythe.

"My master wants me to bring you to him," she stated, angling her scythe towards Ku. "So let's go, Green Girl."

Ku hadn't woken up, she'd just found a new nightmare.


	15. It's Not Easy Being Green

"Will you stop being so difficult, you little brat?" Yomi said, pulling on The Green Girl's hand.

"No! You're not my big brother!" the child shot back, trying to tear herself free.

 _Well, OBVIOUSLY,_ Yomi thought, her annoyance growing rapidly.

"Go away!" Kusano yelled.

Yomi felt something shift beneath her feet. Roots began slithering around her, entwining themselves about her ankles and trying to trip her up. Having finally had enough, she pushed The Green Girl to the ground and hacked the roots to bits with her scythe, panting not from fatigue but from her pent-up frustrations.

"You know," she said, looking at the uncooperative child that lay in front of her, "my master told me specifically to bring you in one piece."

She raised her scythe.

"But if you have to come back in pieces, that's fine with me!" Yomi shouted, leering at Kusano.

"Ku!" came a young male voice.

Yomi stumbled forward as she was tackled from behind, by someone who was getting very touchy-feely with her breasts.

"Hey, watch the hands!" she barked, struggling to bring her scythe to bear.

"Hold her there for us," another voice called out, this one female.

Yomi momentarily regretted her choice of weapon as both she and her assailant were hit by lightning, giving her a nasty shock.

"Did you really have to blast me, too?" Minato coughed, sliding off of Ku's attacker.

Musubi gazed at her fried Ashikabi. "Is Minato going to be okay?" she asked worriedly.

"He'll be fine. I take twice that much in one afternoon," Seo joked. Hikari and Hibiki sighed. Unfortunately, the man spoke the truth.

The scythe-wielder, still smoking, cast an eye at Musubi.

"So, _you're_ here for the Green Girl, too," she sneered, raising her scythe. "I guess I'll have to chop _you_ up before I move on to her."

Her brow furrowed in mock pity as she got a closer look at the trio behind Musubi.

"If it isn't Hibiki and Hikari," she taunted. She pointed at Seo. "And that must be your good-for-nothing Ashikabi!"

"You take that back! Seo's a million times better than that smart, rich, good-looking creep, Mikogami!" Hikari snapped.

"Hikari, I don't think you're helping our case…" Hibiki groaned.

"Well, it doesn't matter, because I, Number 43, Yomi, am walking out of here with The Green Girl," the scythe-girl declared.

"Well _I,_ Number 88, Musubi, say you're not!" Musubi said, clenching her fists and rearing for action. Minato, recovering in an instant, scrambled away with the frightened Kusano.

"Should we help her?" Hibiki asked.

Seo gestured at Kusano. "That one's chosen her Ashikabi. This is their fight now."

Musubi and Yomi charged at each other, Yomi bringing her scythe around to slice Musubi in two at the waist. Musubi extended her stride one as she lunged in close, out of the blade's reach, and blocked it at the handle. Lashing out with her other fist, she clocked Yomi in the middle of her collarbone and sent her stumbling back, still holding her scythe. Minato, meanwhile, sprinted over to where Ku cowered, scooping her up in his arms. Shaking off the blow and noting the interference, Yomi swept her scythe about for an overhead chop aimed at Musubi's head.

Her attack was halted by Musubi clapping her hands together, catching the blade.

"This thing could hurt somebody," Musubi said, snapping the sharp metal in two. "Let's fix that."

" _Agh! You broke my precious death-scythe!_ " Yomi shrieked. Her anguish quickly turned to rage and her hands began trembling with it. "If you think that's the end…"

She jumped back and raised her partial-scythe over her head.

"YOU'RE _DEAD WRONG!_ " she screamed frenziedly.

Yomi's next attack met open air, but a plethora of vacuum-waves erupted from her scythe and careened towards Musubi. Caught off-guard, Musubi took the attack head-on, her skirt and sash exploding off of her body in a shower of cloth confetti. Another attack from Yomi saw Musubi's gi meet a similar fate. Musubi quickly covered her exposed breasts with one arm, more because Minato cared about her modesty than because she felt any shame in being nude.

"Looks like I missed some your clothes," Yomi said. She then noted that the other guy, the pervert who tackled her, was sticking around. "Wait, is that loser your Ashikabi?"

"Minato is not a loser!" Musubi countered. "He's a wonderful person and I'm glad to be his Sekirei!"

"Ha! A pathetic Ashikabi for a pathetic Sekirei," Yomi jeered. "You two were made for each other!"

She swept her broken weapon around again.

"And now you can die together!"

Musubi dove to the side. Flanking Yomi, and being careful not to trip over the roots, she ducked beneath Yomi's next slash and skidded by her, reaching out and tearing off her clothes in the process. Suddenly feeling very vulnerable, Yomi sank to her knees and tried to cover herself as Musubi pressed a finger to her exposed Sekirei crest.

" _Fist of my contract, break the unhappiness of my Ashikabi!_ "

Yomi collapsed onto the mossy earth, her strength fading rapidly. How could she have lost so suddenly?

"No," she whimpered as consciousness left her. "Master…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the battle between the Wind Sekirei and Mutsu continued, Mikogami felt a small tinge of pain in his chest, right where his heart lay. It was minor, but what concerned him was not the pain itself so much as what it meant.

"Yomi…" he whispered, more disappointed than anything else. "Useless girl…"

Mutsu apparently sensed his Ashikabi's distress and halted his onslaught against Kazehana.

"So, Yomi lost," he said plainly. Mutsu sighed in resignation.

Mikogami's level of distress only heightened when Mutsu re-slung his sword into his loose-hanging belt, wincing a bit from a minor injury he'd sustained.

"What are you doing? She's not beaten yet!" Mikogami whined.

"By now the Green Girl's already fallen into another Ashikabi's hands," Mutsu said, looking at Kazehana. "We're done here."

"No we're not! We're done when I say we're done!"

"This isn't up for debate, Hayato," Mutsu said, sounding like a stern father. The Earth Sekirei looped an arm around his Ashikabi and slung him over his shoulder. To Kazehana's credit, she didn't try to attack them.

"Another time, Number 3," he murmured as he sped by her. Moving through the tunnel he'd created in the underbrush, the silent swordsman escaped into the night.

Kazehana watched them go, sinking to the ground and clutching the fresh injuries she'd sustained. She'd fared far worse than Mutsu had, and if the fight had gone on the way it did, with the trees and brush restricting her overhead maneuverability, she would've been in real trouble.

 _Another time. Right._

Rising up, she touched a finger to her ear.

 _"_ Matsu, can you find Minato?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welp, looks like tonight was a success," Seo said.

Minato was more distracted by the near-naked form of his Sekirei.

"Are… You okay, Musubi?" he asked.

"Yup!" Musubi affirmed, flashing him a thumbs-up. "And I protected my modesty!"

 _I'm not so sure about that_ , Minato thought. Luckily, he'd worn his jacket to the occasion, so Musubi wouldn't have to go home in just her panties.

"Finally! I thought I was never going to find you," Kazehana's voice rang out. Minato spied her at an opening in the grove. Her beautiful purple dress was torn in more than half-a-dozen places and she was covered in shallow cuts and dirt.

"Kazehana! What happened?!" he exclaimed.

"I met an old acquaintance, and the reunion wasn't a pleasant one," she said. She then noticed the sleeping girl on Minato's back. "Oh, is that Kusano?"

"Sure is," Minato said, smiling wearily.

"So that makes four," Kazehana said. She then somersaulted through the air and landed in front of Minato.

She then eased her face next to his ear.

"You'll treat my wounds when we get back, won't you?" she whispered. Minato had a sneaky suspicion that she was more concerned with his hands being on her body than she was a clean bill of health.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my, who is this?" Miya asked, inspecting the blonde child on Minato's back. "And Musubi, Kazehana, what happened to your clothes?"

Minato's jacket had not been enough to cover Musubi's underwear, it seemed.

"This is Ku," Minato said. "She's, uh, a relative of mine. Is it all right if she stays here?"

Just then, Ku opened her eyes. "I'm hungry…"

"Oh, you poor thing!" Miya said, turning towards the kitchen. "I'll fix you something to eat."

"Yaaaay…" Ku was clearly exhausted, but she hopped off of Minato's back and shambled towards the kitchen, Musubi accompanying her. It seemed Miya had allowed her standard of "no pants, no food" to lax a bit with Ku being there.

Just then, Kazehana's knees gave out beneath her and she collapsed into Minato's arms.

"Kazehana? What's wrong?!" Minato cried, alarmed. Had she been hurt worse than he'd thought?

"Minato…" Kazehana whispered, looking up at him with half-closed eyes. "I'm in need..." Her next words were too faint to hear. Minato leaned closer, trying to discern what was so important to hear-

Only to have Kazehana spring an ambush with her soft, warm lips. Once her arms were entwined around his torso, she dragged him to the floor and raised her knees to his waist for an amorous hug. Her tongue took the lead and Minato's soon followed, her pink wings spreading across the the floor and up the walls, a moan escaping from her mouth into Minato's at the sensation.

After a minute, Minato broke to come up for air, his eyes darting from her face, flush with passion, to her mountainous breasts in order to, erm, inspect her wounds. Yeah, that was it. _That_ was why Kazehana was giving him that look.

 _She's fine_ , he thought, then began kissing her again.


	16. The Lady of the Water

"Big brother?"

Minato turned. Ku was standing next to him, more awake now that she'd had some of Miya's delicious cooking.

"Thank you for saving me," she said. Minato rubbed the top of her head with his hand.

"You're quite welcome," Minato said, smiling.

"Will…" Ku hesitated.

"Will what?"

She put her tiny little hands on his cheeks.

"Will you be my Ashikabi?"

Before Minato could reply, she placed her mouth to his and kissed him, exactly as the other three Sekirei had. He knew it's what she wanted, and what would stop other Ashikabis from pursuing her, but it didn't make him feel any less squeamish about it. But, those were the rules of the game, so he'd just have to soldier up and cope with it.

Helping him cope with it was the effect of the norito's power. All around, the plant life blossomed in the night air, just like the glowing green wings from Kusano's back. Luminescent wisps of power floated all around. Soon, they faded, and Ku slowly pulled away and sat down next to him.

"Now and forever?" Minato asked.

Ku looked up at him.

"Now and forever," she chirped. Minato was just glad she was happy. He was equally happy that his bed roll was only one flight of stairs away, because he was ready to pass out at any moment.

"When I'm older, please make me your wife," the child said.

" _Wah?!_ " Minato exclaimed. He prayed that Ku was too young to fully grasp what the term "wife" meant.

"Sorry, Ku, but Minato's already spoken for in that department," came a sultry voice. Minato then felt Kazehana's breasts squished against his back and her breath tickling his ear.

"Right, Minato?" she cooed.

Minato was a sane man with a healthy self-preservation instinct, so his response was an intelligent one.

"Well, would you look at the time? I really shouldn't be staying up so late with class tomorrow!" he said hurriedly, jumping to his feet and bolting up to his room. Ku and Kazehana locked glares before conceding that yes, sleep would be nice right about now. Musubi had been nice enough to invite Ku to bunk with her after Miya had gently explained the sleeping arrangements.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ku was back in the grove, re-watching her own abduction by Yomi. The yellow eyes looked down at her from the skies, inspecting her, forcing her to remember the terrible things she'd witnessed no more than a few hours ago. Once again, they radiated sympathy for her despair. So why, then, did they continue to scare her?

But when Minato's spectral presence had appeared, tackling the horrible woman who had tried to hurt her, the eyes had shifted over to watch him. Their regret had turned to wicked intrigue in an instant, leering at her big brother like a wolf looked at a piece of meat. Their manic stare burned down, setting the field alight in a wash of fire, and she began to hear a wispy rumble reverberate throughout the wood. The trees began to evaporate into ash, as did the forms of Yomi, the other Sekirei, and that one man that was with them.

She tried to throw away this horrible vision, but she could not will herself awake. The inferno raged around her as black lightning jumped about. At the center of it all stood Minato, untouched by the

She then realized, to her absolute horror, that the rumbling sound was the eyes' sinister laughter. Their laughter ceased as their gaze returned to her, and her brother crumbled like old stone to fall apart in a pile of gravel.

 _Broookeeeen..._

Consciousness welcomed her back to the waking world. She jerked her head about, looking for the eyes in the darkest corners of the room. She saw no sign of them, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She quickly crawled out of her bed roll and raced down the hall to her big brother's room, pulling open the door and hiding under his blanket. The eyes couldn't get her while her big brother was around.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato found himself on the shore of a large lake, fully clothed and barefoot. Looking around, he wondered where he was. Everything around was a haze, like he was looking through a fogged-up piece of glass. He felt himself drawn to the edge of the water, spying a translucent blue form standing in the center. Its back was to him; its feet tentatively rested on the surface. All around was completely silent, sans the sound of droplets falling off of the silhouette.

 _Drip._

He put his foot to the water, unsurprised when it sank beneath. His flesh remained dry, and he tried again with his other foot, somehow certain that he could stand on it. His extremity sank a bit, but more like soft earth than water.

Looking up, he could make out the form's basic humanoid shape. Its hips curved down into a beautiful pair of legs, shapely but firm, powerful despite their splendor. Its arms appeared to be crossed under its chest; its head was bare.

 _Drip._

He slowly began to approach it. More features formed the closer he got. A long dress furled out of its curved hips, hiding its legs. Sleeves wound themselves around its arms. Long, flowing locks of hair spiraled out of its head. Blocky heels boosted its height by a few centimeters, its feet morphing into the smoother cut of boots.

 _Drip._

Color began to spread through its body, like dye, slowly rendering it opaque. Black spread through its dress. The skin of its hands became fair. Its boots became brown, the color of leather. Its hair turned the most radiant shade of blonde Minato had ever seen, like it was spun from a mixture of gold and liquid sun.

Just who was this?

 _Drip._

Minato, still silent, was right behind the person now. They had risen somewhat on a pedestal of lake water. Indeed, they were significantly shorter than him, as with this added height they now stood as tall as he. Slowly, gently, he laid a hand on their shoulder.

 _Drip. Drip._

The form spun around. As Minato had suspected, she was _very_ female, her white underdress parting to give him a good look at her lovely bosom. She had beautiful blue eyes, filled with pride and more than a little aggression. Her white skirt was impractically short, one strong wind away from exposing her panties.

 _Drip. Drip. Drip._

"Thou hast come," she said. Her archaic choice of words complimented her stern voice perfectly. Minato said nothing, marveling at her allure. She unfolded one arm and raised it above her head. As if by command, the pedestal rose into a column, towering over Minato.

" **Now** _ **perish!**_ "

All the water from the lake flowed into a sphere above her and came crashing down on top of him.

Minato jolted awake, gasping. Never had he gone from pleasant dreams to nightmares so quickly. Well, except for when he'd winged Matsu.

Looking down, he could see that Ku was awake, clinging to his waist and trembling in fear.

"Did you have a nightmare, too?" he inquired.

"The yellow eyes," she murmured.

"Yellow eyes?" Minato asked. "What yellow eyes?"

"They won't leave me alone," was all she said.

Minato tried to find something to say, but what was he supposed to say? That it wasn't real? Ku wouldn't believe that, not after a dream had led him to her.

"They're looking for you, big brother," she whimpered. She believed it, too.

Minato picked her up and hugged her close to his chest. Her tears soaked into his pajamas as she returned his gesture.

"It's okay, Ku. Because we have Kazehana and Musubi and Matsu and a very scary landlady to watch out for us," he assured her.

 _Though I wish they didn't have to_ , he thought. Still, his words had halted Ku's trembling, at least.


	17. Revelation 9: The Fifth Angel

When Minato woke again, he was covered in Sekirei.

Ku was still about his waist, having blessedly fallen asleep again after the nightmare she'd had. Kazehana had once again deigned to sleep in the nude. Her arms wrapped around his right and her head rested on his shoulder. Musubi had laid claim to his left, her head lying next to his on the pillow they now shared. Matsu was straddling his right leg, asleep on top of the blanket. Tears rolled down Minato's face.

 _If I get any more Sekirei, I might die_ , he jokingly thought to himself.

His humorous train of thought came screeching to a halt when he recalled the vision he'd had the previous evening.

Matsu was the first to awake, slipping a hand to her right breast and readjusting where it sat in her pink lingerie.

"Morning, Minato," she said, puckering her lips. "How about a good morning kiss?"

Her kiss was intercepted by Musubi sitting up, who seemed far less surprised by it than Matsu was.

"I'm not Minato…" she said sleepily. She rubbed her eyes. "Eh heh heh, good morning."

A devilish look entered Matsu's eye. "I wonder what would happen if Sekirei ever hooked up..."

He knew her decently well, and yet Minato still found her trademark snicker to be unsettling.

A hand circled around to Minato's cheek and rotated his face to Kazehana's own. Their lips met, and Kazehana felt that familiar ignition within her body that discharged as a pair of glowing pink wings.

Slowly pulling away, and feeling the jealous eyes of the other three stabbing at her, she said, "Now _that's_ a wake-up call."

As if to one-up her sentiment, the doorway to Minato's room slid open.

"Oh my," Miya said, clenching her spatula and eying the three nubile women that lay before her. "This simply will _not_ do."

And thus the righteous beatings commenced, Kusano the only one spared.

"Illicit behavior is not permitted, and as punishment only Ku will eat breakfast this morning. Are we clear?" Miya said, the hanyo mask's gaze burning down.

The groans of pain and clutching of heads sounded the affirmative.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And next thing I knew I was awake," Minato said. Matsu's fingers continued to fly over the keyboard, a sinking feeling in her gut. After a few moments, she moved aside to display the screen.

"Is this her?"

"Yup, she's the one, alright."

Matsu's face turned an unhealthy shade of white. "This is bad…"

"Why? What's bad?"

"This… She's known as the Water Sekirei, Number 9, Tsukiumi," Matsu said forebodingly. "She's a very proud Sekirei, infamous for her hatred of Ashikabis, and her declaration of wanting to win the Plan without being winged. If she's reacting to you, she'll probably take it as an insult to her pride, so she'll try to find you…"

Matsu stared at him, all of the dread and fear in her eyes spearing Minato right through the chest.

"… _and kill you_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Number 38, Mitsuha, touched down on a rooftop next to her fellow Sekirei, Number 7, Akitsu.

"So, any luck?" she asked. Akitsu merely shook her head. Mitsuki cringed. "Ugh, I can't believe some random human got away with him. How are we going to explain this to Master?"

"A Sekirei and Ashikabi are bound by fate," called a voice. "They will always find a way to join in their bond, despite the likes of you."

Mitsuha looked down and spied the speaker, a grey-haired man in all black with a mask covering the lower half of his face.

"You're-"

"The Guardian Sekirei, Homura," he finished for her. "And if you two don't stop targeting the unwinged ones, I'm dropping you both like a bad habit."

"Even though Juusa turned out to be Mikogami's Sekirei after all," Akitsu remarked quietly. Maybe there was some truth to The Guardian's claims.

Mitsuha was too busy eyeing him before a devious thought entered her head.

"Well, now I know _exactly_ how we'll explain it," Mitsuha said, unhitched the bullwhip at her side. "When we present Master with Number 6, he's sure to forgive us."

She lashed out with her whip, ensnaring Homura about the waist and trapping his arms. Akitsu was already summoning her power, freezing the air around Homura and seeking to trap him in an icy coffin. It seemed The Discarded Number really _had_ fallen in with Mikogami.

Unperturbed, a bonfire exploded to life about The Guardian, charring Mitsuha's whip to ash. Number 38 yelped and let go of her weapon as the flame hungrily raced up the coil. Homura pressed his advantage, flinging a pair of fireballs at the two of them. They leapt out of the way, Akitsu remaining as stone-faced as ever.

Mitsuha was not pleased about the destruction of her weapon. However, she was forced to concede that Homura was not an opponent the two of them could best by themselves.

"Ngh, I owe you for this, Number 6," she growled, fleeing over the rooftop above. Akitsu remained silent and followed. Homura attempted to pursue, to stop them from forcing more Sekirei into Mikogami's hands, but his power turned against him and began burning up his own body. Struggling to his feet, he began wandering off. No sense in making himself _more_ vulnerable by melting down in the open.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you'll just have to work your magic on her," Kazehana said as a familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves about his shoulders, and a familiar pair of chest-cushions pressed themselves to Minato's back.

"My 'magic?" Minato asked, blushing a bit. He knew what Kazehana was getting at, and the prospect didn't thrill him.

"I know you can do it, Minato," she reassured him. "If you can drag a lovesick girl like me out of the doldrums, Number 9 doesn't stand a chance."

"I don't think it's that simple, Kazehana," Matsu said. Minato was inclined to agree with her.

"Of course it is! It's love!" Kazehana declared, giddy as a schoolgirl. "Sekirei were meant to fall in love and your connection is already taking shape! Aaahh, it's so _romantic_!"

Minato was taken aback. He'd never seen this side of Kazehana before. Matsu had, apparently, as her sigh of resignation indicated. She perked up, remembering something.

"I almost forgot!" she said. She took off her glasses and leaned in, stealing a kiss from Minato's lips. Her golden wings emerged, reaffirming their bond as Ashikabi and Sekirei. She shot a playful but feisty look at the other woman in the room. "You're right, Kazehana. That _is_ the best way to start the morning."

The two fiercely locked eyes with each other, sparks flying as both refuses to give an inch. So wrapped up in their stare-down that neither of them noticed Minato slink away and out the door.

Ku had wanted to go to school with him, and Minato said she probably wouldn't have liked cram school much. She only changed her mind after ten seconds of his explanation of calculus made her go cross-eyed, Musubi along with her.

Not cross-eyed enough to stop Number 88 from giving him a lift, though.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Homura fell against the garage door, feeling his fires rage within him. His cell phone had melted in his hand the instant he pulled it out, denying him the call for help he so desperately needed. He really wished his handler had given him that new body he requested. This one had brought him nothing but trouble. He cursed Number 8 for her decision, because now he had to deal with dismissals of "It's too dangerous", or "We don't want to risk losing another", or-

Homura stopped himself. He shouldn't be thinking such selfish thoughts. Number 8 had given her life for the sake of another, and he ought to be ashamed of thinking less of her for it. Still, self-cremation was no way to go.

A droplet of rain brought him out of his pity party. A moment later, a deluge of water gushed down, cooling him off and putting out his smoldering flesh.

"I told thee before, Homura," said his rescuer. "Thou shalt face thine end at _my_ hands. I shan't permit thee die otherwise."

Homura looked up, his mask having slipped a bit. There she was: black dress, golden hair, disapproving glare.

"Tsukiumi…" he murmured, still weak from being ravaged by his inner inferno. "You're showing off your panties again…"

"Agh!" Tsukiumi exclaimed, pulling her miniskirt down. "Uncouth wretch! How dare thee!"

He stood, bracing himself against the steel door, pulling his mask back up as he did so.

"You're still trying to be the strongest, right?" he inquired. "So why haven't you allowed yourself to be winged?"

"Thou art one to lecture me, Homura," she responded, hands on her hips. "Why hast thou not done the same?"

"I don't know if I _can_ be winged." Homura sighed. "I'm defective. It's this stupid body of mine…"

He looked up, his half-concealed expression a mixture of sympathy and envy.

"If you really want to become the strongest, you should find your Ashikabi, and-"

"Speak not of such things!" Tsukiumi's outburst interrupted him. "Ashikabis are naught but lowly apes, seeking only to… to…"

"To what?"

"To violate me! I shan't allow it! I _refuse_ to allow it!"

It seemed that Tsukiumi had some rather... _Unique_ ideas about the relationship between Ashikabi and Sekirei. He had to wonder where she got them from. And she also never seemed to consider just how exactly _anyone_ could nonconsensually lay hands on her and live to tell of it. She was a Sekirei, after all, and a Single Number at that.

She calmed, and held a hand to her chest. "And yet… I have felt strange, of late. Something hath ingrained itself within my bosom, a feeling, this want of another…"

Homura's eyes widened. "Then, that means-"

"Yes, tis most fortuitous. A reaction to mine Ashikabi, that I may meet this monkey-"

She turned back to Homura, eyes filled with furor.

"And strike him down myself!"


	18. A Modest Proposal

"So, there's a plan now?" Minato asked.

"Yup! 'Operation Do-Or-Die'," Musubi chirped, accompanying Minato as he left his cram school for the third time this week.

"Matsu really needs to come up with better names," Kazehana said. "It's a little _too_ fitting, if you ask me."

Minato wasn't too pleased with the whole "Die" part himself.

"Basically, I'll scan for Tsukiumi using the MBI satellites while Kazehana and Musubi search the places where the satellites can't reach," Matsu's voice explained, resonating in Minato's ear piece. He'd started wearing it regularly, on the condition that Matsu not pester him while he was at school. "When one of them finds her, they'll lead her to you."

"And what if she finds me first?" Minato asked nervously.

"Ku will be here, big brother!" Kusano declared.

"Well, that's awfully nice of you, Ku," Minato said, patting her on the head. _At least **one** of us feels up to it_.

"So, you'll do it?" Kazehana asked.

"Well, I'm not too keen on being bait, but if Tsukiumi's really as aggressive as Matsu said, there's probably no way around it," Minato concluded. "Not if I'm going to convince her to join us."

"All right!" Musubi said, clenching her fist in anticipation. "I'll do my best like always! But before we start…"

Musubi laid a hand on her belly as her stomach finished her request for her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi stood on a rooftop, feeling the salty air around her. She peered down at the docks, watching the lowly humans scuttle about, sweating and heaving boxes of cargo. They nauseated her. And to think one of them had the gall to demand her body, to claim her like some trophy wench. Well, not if _she_ had anything to say about it.

The heat within had grown somewhat since this morning. It couldn't be from the sun, as it hid behind the clouds overhead. So it must've been the embers of her Ashikabi. A breeze swept in from the sea, blowing through her hair but doing nothing to cool her off.

"You should _really_ invest in a longer miniskirt!"

Tsukiumi instinctively went to lower half, pulling it down to hide her panties. A stranger stood below her, atop a pile of steel freight containers, his arms folded.

"Hast thou no shame?!" she hollered at him.

"Well, these things tend to draw attention to themselves," called the stranger, pointing down at himself. "It's why I wear pants."

He was indeed wearing pants, baggy ones, as black as the sleeveless gi about his torso.

"Perhaps thou should mind where thy gaze is cast," Tsukiumi called back, turning up her nose at him. "Thou wouldst be better mannered than a vile Ashikabi, at least."

"You know," the stranger said, leaping up to the rooftop corner, "I ought to punch you in the face for saying that."

"Oh?" Tsukiumi asked. "Thou art more the fool than I expected, for thy chosen opponent is Sekirei Number 9, Tsukiumi."

"We'll see about that," the stranger responded, crouching into a fighting stance, "I'm Kagedansu, Number-"

His shifting eyes and open mouth, ready to shout a warning, alerted her to the danger. A white veil snapped at Tsukiumi's back from above, but she batted it away with a screen of water. Flying over her head, her attacker touched down on another corner of the roof, directly opposite to where Kagedansu stood.

"You know, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're talking," Kagedansu muttered through his grimace.

"Coward! Thou wouldst strike at me as battle is joined between Sekirei?!" Tsukiumi barked at her attacker.

"Apparently, since this one doesn't play by the rules," Kagedansu said, hawking and spitting in the newcomer's direction. The Veiled Sekirei said nothing, so he redirected his attention at Tsukiumi. " _As I was saying_ , I'm the Shadow Sekirei, Number-"

"A Sekirei and their Ashikabi are meant to be one," another voice called. "Even if some are more reluctant than others…"

Another newcomer landed on the one unoccupied corner, opposite to Tsukiumi.

"Homura! Explain thy presence at once!" she demanded.

"I'm the Guardian of _all_ unwinged Sekirei," Homura said, "Even you."

"Thou art wasting thy time. I told thee: I shan't let any Ashikabi have his way with me, so thou hast no reason to be here," she said, a ball of water appearing in her hand, "but to battle."

" _ **HEY! I WAS HERE FIRST!**_ " Kagedansu's pointed finger darted back and forth between the three. His rage left as quickly as it came, a fire entering his eye. "But since you've come…"

The four all eyed each other. Homura had come on Tsukiumi's behalf, hoping to aid her against The Veil and The Shadow, but it seemed their rivalry was spurring _her_ to challenge him, as well. Tsukiumi was eager to put these two upstarts in their place, as well as win the power race she had with Homura, and while she had reservations about breaking the one-on-one rule of the Sekirei Plan, she concluded that a free-for-all was more or less even. Number 9 was The Veiled Sekirei's prey, and hers alone; she knew that failing would mean dire consequences for her Ashikabi, so Numbers 6 and 67 would have be dealt with, as well.

And Kagedansu just wanted to fight, _everyone._ In the end, everyone got their way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Heads up, guys! I just got something _big_ ," came the voice over the comm.

"So we heard, Matsu," Minato replied uneasily. Everyone around him, human and Sekirei alike, had caught that sound, like a mountain exploding.

Musubi swallowed her mouthful of food before speaking up.

"Can it wait, Matsu? I'm not finished," Musubi replied, taking another bite out of her hamburger.

"I don't think so, Musubi. The cloud cover just moved away from the docks, and satellite readings show Tsukiumi engaged with _three_ other Sekirei."

" _Three?!_ " Minato exclaimed.

Musubi's eyes started to tear up. "But I'm still hungry…"

"Bag it, then, Musubi," Kazehana said, draining her cup of its sake and slinging an arm around her man. "Minato has a date!"

Following Matsu's directions, the quartet made haste to the site of the battle, Kazehana carrying Minato, Musubi carrying Ku as they leapt about the rooftops. The four touched down about a three blocks from the brawl, at street-level, so as not to be spotted.

"Alright, now what?" Minato asked his watchful strategist.

"They're on the move. Tsukiumi's chasing one of them towards you," Matsu's voice informed him. Minato felt a cold shiver crawl up his spine, trying to steel himself for what was to come. His effort was interrupted when a cat plummeted from the sky, angling toward his face before it was snatched from its descent by long vines.

Minato turned. Sure enough, there was Ku, pot in hand, her little seedling having exploded into growth at her insistence.

"Hey, thanks, kid!" called a voice. Seo vaulted over a nearby fence, landing in front of Minato before retrieving the cat. "Saved me the trouble of finding a lookalike. Looks like we're set at my place for the next few days."

"Hello, Seo," Kazehana said.

"Hey, there. Looking to join the four-way, Kazehana?" Seo joked.

"Actually," Kazehana said, putting her hands to Minato's shoulders. "I'm here to get this guy in on the action."

 _What does she think I'm going to do?_ Minato thought.

" **INCOMING!** "

The familiar form of Kagedansu crashed to the ground to Minato's left. That same instant, a stream of water caught the Shadow Sekirei, flowering out against the pavement and obscuring his form. When the cascade ended, he was nowhere to be seen. Seo had likewise bolted past the four, looking to keep his feline prize safe from harm.

"Move thyself!"

Minato looked up at the second voice. He was too distracted by the sight of white panties clad between two beautiful legs to process the demand. A moment later, he was yanked out of the way as Kazehana yanked him back, the second form landing somewhat clumsily on her hands and knees. She had a bruise on the porcelain skin of her thigh, just above where her black nylon stocking ended. Below that, on the opposite leg, a hairline cut parted the nylon and showed a tiny amount of crimson beneath.

"Speaking of…" Kazehana said, backing away to allow Minato some space.

Minato caught a healthy look at the crasher's cleavage before she was on her feet, pointing at him accusingly.

"Why didst thou not move when I said?" she demanded. Their eyes met and Minato recognized her instantly. The sensation he felt was an odd one, halfway between relief and abject dread.

Tsukiumi's knees gave out beneath her and she was on the ground again. She lay there, panting on her hands and knees, wondering what was wrong with her.

"Ts-Tsukiumi-san?" Minato asked. She looked up at him, still panting.

"Thou art he," Tsukiumi said, rising up, "Mine Ashikabi."

"Y-Yeah," he stammered, bowing to her. "Sahashi Minato. I was wondering if you would, maybe, be my Sekirei?"

She glared at him. "Thou wouldst demand such of me, so brazenly?" she asked. Despite the feeling like he was treading on thin ice, Minato continued.

"Well… I- _we_ need your power," Minato said. His mind flashed back to the unconscious form of Yomi, lying broken and beaten in the middle of the Botanical Garden.

"Lecherous rogue! Thou hast lived _too_ _long_!" Tsukiumi declared, raising her hand and calling her waters to it. Minato's three Sekirei tensed up as they prepared to jump to Minato's defense.

" **KNOCK-KNOCK!** "

Kagedansu's fist smashed Tsukiumi aside, her waters soaking the collar of his gi as his camouflage faded. White cloth snapped about his extended wrist, but the large Sekirei grasped it with his other hand and pulled his foe out of the air. The Veiled Sekirei, upon nearing terra firma, caught a spin-kick to the ribs and was sent flying the other way. Alas, her cloth held firm, so Kagedansu felt himself yanked sideways by the force of his own attack.

Minato, in spite of himself, ran over to where Tsukiumi lay. Ku broke free of Musubi's grasp and followed. He reached down to help her up, but she snatched her arm away

"Get thee hence, monkey!" she snapped, though a bit surprised at his concern for her. Then she remembered his earlier words. It wasn't worry, he just didn't want his prize damaged by battle. She then noticed Ku standing behind him.

"A child?" she asked, horrified. "Thou has sunk thy claws into a mere child?"

A dark shadow was cast over her eyes.

"Thou art _lower_ than an ape, lower than filth itself," she seethed, and lashed out with her waters. Ku's potted vine shot out and swatted it aside. Kazehana and Musubi rushed forward, but halted a moment later. They both remembered the rules of the game, and as much as they hated to allow it, Kusano was just as entitled to a one-on-one fight as they were. Though if Tsukiumi tried to hurt Minato again, she would regret it, plan or no plan.

Minato's eyes widened even further as he grabbed Tsukiumi and pulled her aside. A bladed veil slashed at the spot where she had been, tainted with a stain of blood at the tip.

Tsukiumi was too shocked to be disgusted. This Ashikabi had shielded her with his own body, pulling her out of harm's way. Was he really so desperate to claim her?

Not allowing herself to dwell on it, she got to her feet and charged at her veiled attacker, who herself was suffocating a fireball with her veils.

Minato, meanwhile, was being helped to his feet by his three Sekirei when he heard Kagedansu's lumbering approach. As he bounded past him, Minato called out.

"Kagedansu-san, wait!"

Number 67 stopped. Blood trickled down his arm from a nasty stab wound. It seemed his stunt with the Veiled Sekirei hadn't left him unscathed after all.

"Please… Leave Tsukiumi-san alone. I want her to become my Sekirei, if that's all right," he said. To his surprise, Kagedansu merely shrugged.

"You don't need _my_ permission," he said, grasping Minato's arm with his un-bloodied hand and leaning in close. " _Good luck with this one. Trust me, you're going to need it,_ " he murmured.

"I heard that, scoundrel!"

" **GOOD, BECAUSE YOU'RE SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM NOW!** " he called back. Minato's ears were left ringing from his shout. With that, the Shadow Sekirei scrambled up a wall and disappeared, his chameleonic ability concealing his escape.

Tsukiumi, meanwhile, remained focused on her veiled attacker, striking at her with a conjured geyser and sparing another for Homura, who was standing on the roof above. Both attacks were evaded. Homura, it seemed, decided that Tsukiumi could handle this fight on her own, and so also departed.

Tsukiumi launched another attack The Veiled Sekirei. This one was also dodged, but it just so happened that man with the cat was standing behind her. The sphere struck him dead in the face, knocking him over and releasing the cat in his grasp.

Tsukiumi was about to redouble her efforts when the man's angry shout reached her ears.

" _HEY!_ " he said, running towards her. The Veiled Sekirei merely stood where he had lain, wondering what, pray tell, was going on. His hand clamped around Tsukiumi's wrist and she felt all of her strength leave her. He pulled her uncomfortably close as his voice dropped to a lover's whisper. "How are you going to pay me back, huh?"

 _Why can't I move? My waters abandon me,_ Tsukiumi thought to herself.

"If you're wondering, my best pal did me a solid and gave me the ability to cancel a Sekirei's powers. Now _I'm_ wondering what I should take from you. Maybe that black MBI card I know you have?"

She could see the wheels in his head turning, considering his options. The look in his eyes said he was considering something other than simple money, something that set off every "bad touch" alarm bell in Tsukiumi's head.

 _No… He is not the one. The one I want is..._

Tsukiumi attempted to struggle but her limbs would not obey her. She stood there, helpless, as this foul cretin tipped her chin up, his leer piercing her eyes.

"Seo-san! Let her go!"

The man stopped his advances and turned to where the voice came from. The one who would be her Ashikabi stood down a ways, staring the man down.

"Because…"

He screwed his eyes shut.

"She's my Sekirei!"

The man, Seo, pondered for a moment. He eyed Tsukiumi, then his gaze drifted to Kusano, and finally to the hand that held The Water Sekirei's wrist. His eyes shut for a moment in silent lamentation for what he'd almost done, before consenting to release her. Tsukiumi was too deep in shock to even retaliate against him.

" _Seo!_ "

Dual lightning bolts struck him and he fell to the ground. Sure enough, there were Hibiki and Hikari, standing over him, _both_ engrossed in fury.

"Just what _were_ you thinking of doing, hm?" the normally collected Hibiki demanded to know.

"You said we were the only girls for you, remember?" Hikari growled.

"Wait, time ou-" The rest of his sentence was drowned out by the crackle of lightning.

Tsukiumi was brought out of her shock by Minato sliding around in front of her. Her hostility had all but evaporated.

"So... Will you?" he asked nervously. The other three Sekirei stood a few meters behind her, awaiting her response.

She shook her head. "Nay." She showed Minato her back. "I trust mine own judgement more than I trust my body or anything Minaka hath programmed into me. Thou art a man of mettle, but I shall not accept thee yet."

Minato had a pretty good feeling that he spoke for everyone when he burbled, "But, _why?_ "

She peered over her shoulder.

"Minato-san, as of now I no longer wish to kill thee. I advise thee take flight lest I change my mind," she said, and in a moment had soared through the air, out of sight.

Musubi looked at him in confusion. "Minato?"

He sighed. "Well, if she doesn't want to join us, that's her decision," he said. "I'm not about to force her into anything." _Not that I actually could_.

"Oh, you're so considerate, Minato! That's what I love about you!" Kazehana cried, running up and hugging him close. The other two did likewise, not about to let Kazehana have him all to herself.

No one noticed that the Veiled Sekirei had long since departed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Izumo Inn, Matsu was seething with envy. She'd have to get her turn when he got home. And if Miya took long enough with the groceries, there might be enough time for a few one-on-one _experiments_. Still, it hadn't been a _complete_ waste of their time.

She got up to stretch her legs and wandered into the hallway. She spied Uzume, who'd finally come home from whatever it was she did during the day, in her room, putting on a fresh shirt. For a moment, Matsu caught a glimpse of what lay beneath.

"Uzume! Where did you get _that_?" she asked, pointing to a gigantic bruise about the left side of the Uzume's waist area.

"I got in a fight with another Sekirei," she said sheepishly, and left it at that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sorry about the stains." Kagedansu's resonant voice pierced the sound of Izanagi's rapid guitar playing, bringing his jam session to a halt. He stood up from his beanbag seat, wondering what his newly-returned larger brother was talking about, before seeing the crimson gash on his arm. Dried blood had run all the way down to his hand, forcing him to leave some behind on the doorknob.

"Interesting day?" he asked calmly, heading to the bathroom to get the first aid kit.

"Interesting _opponent_ ," Kagedansu corrected, sitting down. "A real femme fatale: gorgeous body, but a bad case of being stronger than me."

"So, just your type, then," Izanagi joked in his usual deadpan.

"You know it, brother," his Sekirei answered, grinning and wincing as Izanagi swabbed the wound with antiseptic. He dipped the swab back in the phenol and began applying it to the cuts on Kagedansu's face.


	19. Karasuba, The Black Hound

Minaka Hiroto sat at his desk, pondering. It seemed one of the little birds he'd set lose upon the city wasn't playing by the rules. Two of their number had lost their wings to an unknown adversary, both of them bearing similar wounds on their bodies. He knew all 108 of them, and he had his suspicions about who it was. He also knew that none of them would _dare_ violate the laws of his game, which meant that someone else was to blame for this rule-breaker's actions. He felt a little spurt of excitement. Just another way to make the game interesting, both for him and the players.

He'd still punish those responsible, though. He wasn't about to jeopardize over 20 years of work because one of the players refused to play ball.

A notice popped up on his computer. No. 107 had just been winged, it seems. According to his math (which was never wrong), now 90% of the released life forms had finally met their chosen one, as he had hoped. The Game Master's lips curled into a giddy grin at the latest news. The game was moving along quite well, it seemed, and only a handful of them had been deactivated. He'd look into this mystery attacker later. Right now, he had a city to seize.

He picked up the phone at his desk and dialed a number.

"Natsuo-kun, I'd like you to deploy the Squad on rotating patrols about the riverfront areas," he ordered his secretary. "Phase 2 is about to begin, and we can't have the players backing out now that the game has picked up momentum."

"Understood, sir," came the voice, calm as ever. It was uncanny. Had Natsuo been a woman he would've sounded exactly like No. 4, minus the blood lust.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Any idea what that's all about?" Minato asked, pointing at the helicopters above them. Musubi looked about as they continued their trek home from the "four-way", as Matsu was taking a little too much delight in calling it.

"I think the next stage is beginning," she said.

"Next stage?"

"You can ask Matsu when we get back," Kazehana said. "But for now…"

She hugged his arm to her chest. Musubi did likewise on his opposite limb. Ku, feeling very left out, jumped up on Minato's back. He nearly fell over, but the two women on either side of him kept him firmly in place. He wasn't getting away _that_ easily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Eee, that's cold!"

It seemed that Ku had failed to take the water temperature into account before she'd made a grab for the hose in Musubi's hand, and so paid the price. Miya had asked them to water the garden while she was out, and Musubi and Ku had been happy to oblige.

"Well, if you had asked, I would've give it you, Ku-chan," Musubi said, turning the hose away from Ku, who was now soaking wet. The sound the water made hitting the sidewalk was not quite right, and Musubi turned to see-

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Musubi exclaimed, pulling the water stream off of the stranger. She stood at the gate, her black clothing and grey robe soaked along with her silver hair. Musubi recognized her instantly.

"Karasuba-sama!" Musubi said excitedly.

"It seems you're the same as always, Mu-chan," the other Sekirei said, unperturbed by her wet attire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You can wear my clothes until yours dry off," Musubi said, helping Karasuba slip into her spare gi. She noticed the red crest on her old acquaintances back. "You've emerged, too?"

"I have," the other woman replied.

"That's great, Karasuba!"

Her old friend turned to face her.

"But don't think that changes anything," she said. "Even I know I can't fully tap into my power without an Ashikabi. Speaking of which…"

Musubi tilted her head, wondering what was about to be asked.

"That guy in the hallway, was he your Ashikabi?"

"M-hm!" Musubi chirped. "Minato's wonderful! He's everything I could've hoped for and more!"

"Glad to hear it. I also heard that you had a tough time with Number 43."

"That scythe-girl?" Musubi confirmed. Her friend nodded, and she started to get angry. "That bully! She was so horrible, and-"

"You haven't forgotten your promise to me, have you, Musubi?" Karasuba interrupted her. "You're never going to make it to the last battle if someone like 43 nearly got the better of you."

"I know! And I'm training really hard, honest!" she replied. She clenched her fist. "I'll show you, Karasuba! I'll prove to you that love is stronger, just you wait!"

"I'm sure you will," Karasuba said, her smile widening ever so slightly.

It wasn't a pleasant smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It was nice to see you again, Musubi, but I have to get going," Karasuba said, sliding her now-dry clothes back on.

"But I really wanted to talk with you more!" Musubi objected.

"I can't stay. Someone's waiting for me."

"Oh. Okay…" Musubi sounded so put-down by the news.

With that, Karasuba left The Izumo Inn. She took note of Number 3, standing on the roof, scowling at her. Seems there still wasn't any love lost between them. Ironic, since Number 3 had always been the one to go on about love and all that. It made Karasuba's stomach turn.

What really got Karasuba going was the person she spied as she left the Inn behind and neared the corner of the block. Same purple hair, same lady-like kimono, same cool yet terrifying demeanor.

"That's a nice place you have there," Karasuba said. Miya's eyes narrowed at this. "Don't worry, I left it the same as I found it."

Miya's eyes returned to normal, but her expression of anger remained.

"I'll overlook this transgression, but just this once," she said as they approached each other. "Next time, you'll feel my sword."

"Do you ever switch it off, that whole 'scary' thing?" Karasuba asked, a hint of mockery in her voice. As they passed each other, Karasuba's entire body tensed up and she instinctively went for the blade at her hip.

Miya was already a good three meters away from her, her weapon drawn. Karasuba relaxed a little and held out her open hand.

"Well, would you look at that? I didn't bring _my_ sword, either," she said. She pointed to the long radish in Miya's hand. "Would you have fought me with that?"

"I would have killed you with it," Miya replied. Karasuba wasn't about to argue with that statement. "Now leave."

Karasuba was happy to oblige, continuing on her way to where Natsuo waited with the car. She hopped into the open top, happy to be reuinited with her beloved katana. She'd felt almost naked without it at her side. She had a hard time imagining how No. 1 was able to cope without it. Then again, for Miya, any weapon, any _thing_ , was deadly in her hands.

As they drove back to MBI, Karasuba's blood was still raging. She craved action.

"You're in a good mood," Natsuo said.

"You can tell?" she asked.

"I'm your Ashikabi, aren't I? My telling is in the job description."

"I ran into Number 1 on my way back. The thought of battling her, blade to blade…"

Karasuba flashed a terrifying leer at her driver.

"Yeah, you could say I'm feeling up right now."

Anyone else might've darkened their pants. Natsuo simply nodded. "It sounds like you need some exercise."

"You're probably right."

"You might get some sooner than you think. Haihane said she caught a Sekirei trying to escape with her Ashikabi over one of the bridges."

"And Haihane let them go?"

"She didn't chase them once they turned back. She said if they were that desperate, they would try again soon enough."

"Interesting choice," Karasuba remarked. "Personally, I would've just killed them."

"Well, then they should count themselves lucky that they get to live another day."

Karasuba then spied two pedestrians standing on the sidewalk, talking to one another. One was clothed in a skin-tight black and yellow outfit, a bullwhip at her hip, while the other wore a loose-fitting white outfit with a black sash around her waist, just below her exposed cleavage, bisected by a chain.

The latter had a Sekirei symbol on her forehead.

"Natsuo, would you pull the car over?" she asked. Natsuo did so. She knew he sensed her murderous intent; his willingness to comply was one of the reasons she was able to tolerate him.

One of those Sekirei, Akitsu, was silently listening to her companion, Mitsuha, continue to whine.

"Ugh, this sucks. If Phase 2's starting, how are we supposed to find more Sekirei to present to Master?" Akitsu was starting to feel the slightest bit annoyed, mostly because Mitsuha had been going on like this for the past 5 minutes now.

"Maybe we should return now," Akitsu suggested. If nothing else, it would mean she could have some time away from Mitsuha, possibly with Mikogami, if he would see her. The two of them weren't technically bound by a Sekirei contract, but Mikogami had given her a place to live and a purpose that she'd been sorely lacking. For that, she would always be devoted to him.

"Before you do," came a voice, "Would you two mind being my opponents? I have some pent-up energy I need to work off."

The two addressed the speaker, whom Akitsu recognized as No. 4, Karasuba, The Black Sekirei. She was also known as "MBI's Hound".

Mitsuha did _not_ recognize her, apparently, because instead of fleeing for dear life, she reached for her bullwhip.

"Get away," Akitsu said simply. Her expression remained the same, but in reality she was too scared to move, afraid of what No. 4 might do if her bloodlust wasn't satiated.

"Why should I?" Mitsuha demanded.

"She's the leader of the Discipline Squad, Number 4." Akitsu was being honest with her counterpart, but a rather underhanded thought had crept into her mind.

"So? She challenged me, and I'm not about to back down!" Mitsuha snapped, curling the end of her whip around her hand.

"Ignorant _and_ arrogant," Karasuba said, laying a hand on her sword. "What a charming combination."

Mitsuha flew at her challenger, bullwhip lashing out to strike at her. Karasuba remained still, save her face, which turned from unpleasant smile to frenzied bloodthirst the closer the upstart got to her.

There was a flash of steel and suddenly the two were a short distance away, their backs to each other. But after a moment, only one remained standing. Mitsuha collapsed, blood exploding out of her abdomen from the multiple sword wounds she'd received. Karasuba turned her leer to Akitsu.

"How about you?" the Black Sekirei asked.

Overcoming her fear, Akitsu broke off and ran, as fast as she could, away from the butcher that stood over Mitsuha's unmoving husk. It seems her hunch had been right, that Mitsuha's termination had been enough to stop Karasuba from pursuing her. She felt absolutely terrible for having to stoop so low, but she couldn't think of any other way to get out of that scenario with her crest and life intact.

She sincerely hoped Mikogami would understand. Right now, she needed someone to hold her, to banish the terror that had gripped her.


	20. Cry for Help, Glimpse of Freedom

"Minato, turn on the TV!"

"The TV?" Minato didn't know why Matsu was getting so anxious. He then remembered that he'd meant to ask her about all of those MBI choppers he'd spotted.

"Just do it!" his Sekirei demanded. "It's important!"

Unwilling to question her further, Minato raced downstairs to where he found Kazehana lying on the living room floor, draining the last drops of sake from the bottle she clutched.

"Heyyyy, Minato," Kazehana slurred, the vessel sliding out of her fingers as she stood up. It couldn't have been her first bottle that day, if she was already tipsy. "I just was just thinking that we never sealed our contract _my_ way."

Her sentiment was lost on him until she fell against him and sent them toppling on to the couch. He could smell the alcohol on her breath, and her face was flush.

"Kazehana, wait! If we get caught, Miya will kill us!"

"Ooooh?" she cooed seductively, leaning over him. She slid her free arm underneath her bust and pushed her breasts up in his face. "Isn't _this_ worth dying for?"

For a moment, Minato's other head started to get the better of him, and he felt Kazehana lower herself down and begin to rub up against his bulging pants. That is, until he saw a silhouette appear, looming over the amorous Sekirei and her captive Ashikabi.

"Kazehana, you weren't thinking about violating my cardinal law, were you?" it asked, its hanyo face leering at her from the other end of its sword.

"Naaaah." Kazehana wobbled her head, not taking her eyes off of the man beneath her. "Just my Ashikabi."

The black aura surrounding the terrifying figure flared, its eyes narrowed vengefully, and Minato saw the blade twist to face Kazehana's cheek.

Minato's heart froze over. He scrambled out from beneath Kazehana and abased himself before the demonic visage.

" _Please_ , Miya-sama, forgive her! I promise she would never _dream_ of breaking your rules!" he pleaded.

The glaring eyes cast their gaze upon Kazehana, lying cross-legged on the couch and staring glazed-eyed at her would-be lover, then back to Minato, before it dissolved along with its aura.

"Very well," Miya said. "But only because I trust your word, Minato."

Thanking her (and banging his head on the floor as he did so), Minato sat up straight and slammed his finger on the nearby TV remote, not even bothering to lift it from the side table. He was greeted by the face of the CEO of MBI, Minaka Hiroto.

"-ease, carry on with your daily lives. Just know that MBI will be inspecting your persons should you be leaving the city."

"Oh, Professor!" Musubi entered from the door, clad in her workout T-shirt and gym shorts, a lump on her head and several bruises on her arms.

"Sekirei and Ashikabi, however, will not be permitted to leave, under _any_ circumstances," Minaka continued, "You all know quite well who you are. Anyone who defies this new rule shall face recourse from the Discipline Squad."

He grinned.

"But don't let that stop you from trying! What's a game without a few unexpected surprises?" With that, the TV returned to its previous channel, the current program being some cartoon, subtitled in Japanese, about undead skeleton barbarians on jetbikes cruising around the post-apocalyptic ruins of a futuristic city.

"Oh no, I completely forgot!"

Everyone addressed Uzume, who was leaning her head around the doorway, having caught the announcement from Minaka. She dashed down the hall and upstairs to her room, leaving everyone to wonder what she meant.

"Looks like it's official. The plan's entered Phase 2," Matsu said, her head out of a secret passage in the ceiling. "This is where the real fighting begins."

"The _real_ fighting?" Minato repeated, a sinking feeling in his gut. He hated the idea of his Sekirei fighting, the thought of losing any of them unbearable. But there was nothing he could do, except stand by them and support them however he could. Which was, to say, sit on the sidelines and hope that their next fight wasn't also their last.

"We'll be fine, Minato," Musubi reassured him.

"Of course," Matsu said. "Though, can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

"Alright," Minato said, Matsu retreating into the hole and closing the cover. Minato got up, his two Sekirei following him upstairs.

Kazehana grabbed Uzume's arm on their way up, bringing her friend's mad dash to a halt.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" she asked, still sauced. "Got a hot date?"

"Sort of," Uzume said. "Izanagi told me about that show and Kagedansu invited me to watch it with him. He said Izanagi would be out for a while and he wanted some company."

"Oh, _that_ of company?" Kazehana teased. "All alone in his apartment, with no one but the two of you?"

Uzume ignored her. She had places to be, people to see, marathons to screen.

And, unfortunately, more prey to hunt for that bastard Higa.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's had me worried for a while," Matsu explained to the group, huddled around in her darkly-lit room. Minato had woken up Kusano from her nap, and the little girl had joined them.

"See, MBI keeps a catalog of all Sekirei battles and their results," Matsu continued, punching commands into her computers. "Any time a Sekirei is beaten, the winner stays behind to watch over the loser until MBI can retrieve them. It's tradition, a final show of courtesy to the fallen. Moreover, it's how MBI records the battle result."

"So, what does MBI do with the Sekirei that are beaten?" Minato asked.

"I couldn't say. The data's not kept on any hard drive I could get to," Matsu said. "Anyway, that's not important right now."

Minato silently disagreed, but he let Matsu finish and show them all the screen.

"'Winner: undetermined'? How does _that_ work?" Kazehana asked.

"There's reportedly a Sekirei going around attacking others and leaving before MBI arrives," Matsu said. "She's known as the Veiled Sekirei."

"Wait, you mean that lady in all the white?" Kusano asked.

Matsu's faced turned pale white. " _You saw her?_ "

"Yeah, she was brawling it out with Tsukiumi and Kagedansu," Kazehana said, putting a finger to her chin, recollecting. "And I think Number 6 was there, as well."

"Well, I would try to avoid her in the future," Matsu said cryptically. "Three Sekirei have been found at Stage 4 Termination with no winner in sight. It's fair to assume that these unconfirmed victories are the work of the Veiled Sekirei. She's-"

Matsu stopped when she saw that Musubi's eyes had lit up with excitement.

"A really strong opponent…" Musubi said giddily. She leapt to her feet. "I can't wait!"

"Musubi, hold on!" Minato cried.

Minato's plea fell on deaf ears as Musubi raced out of the room. She didn't even bother to go downstairs, just darting in to her room, opening the window, and leaping out. Matsu sighed. They all should've seen _that_ one coming.

"I'll keep an eye on her," Kazehana said, climbing to her feet. She stole a kiss from Minato, her Ashikabi surprised but not entirely unwelcome to the gesture, and then moved out, her pink wings fading as she summoned the winds to her side.

What no one else knew was that her last remark had referred to both Musubi _and_ her soon-to-be opponent.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, you ready to go home yet?"

The two of them had been out looking for the Veiled Sekirei for a good four hours now, Kazehana refusing to let Musubi out on her own.

"What? It's still early," Musubi said. Kazehana smiled a little bit. The sun was well on its way behind the horizon and Musubi called it "early". She supposed the reason was that in the time that they'd been out, Musubi's black hole of a stomach hadn't made a peep, the thrill of the hunt driving her on. However, Kazehana suspected that she would eat Miya out of house and home when her appetite finally overcame her excitement.

A loud screech pierced the urban soundtrack of Tokyo and caused both women to put their hands over their ears. It was like getting a power drill straight to the brain.

Kazehana was the first to recover, having shaken off enough hangovers to know how to cope, and rushed to investigate, her winds aiding her as she soared over the rooftops. It was a good thing, too. Had Musubi gotten their first, she probably would've touched down in the path of the flying blade of cloth.

As it was, Kazehana dispelled the attack with a burst of wind and landed in front of a petite girl, who was lying in the arms of a boy who looked about Minato's age. Kazehana's arm extended towards her veiled opponent.

"How about a _real_ challenge, hun," Kazehana said. "I'm Sekirei Number 3, Kazehana."

Despite the veil that hid her face, she could see a shift in Uzume's demeanor. Unsurprising, given how their last encounter had ended. It changed again to a more perplexed one, and Kazehana heard the sound of feet hopping up and down in excitement behind her.

"Uh, Musubi?" Kazehana asked, addressing her companion, who was, indeed, standing behind her.

"Yes? Is it my turn yet?" Musubi asked, still hopping.

"Sekirei fights are supposed to be one on one," Kazehana said.

"Oh, right," Musubi said. She turned to the unnamed girl, who was recovering from her prone position.

"I'm Sekirei Number 88, Musubi!" she declared, bowing. "Pleased to be your opponent!"

The girl, clad in a cobalt-blue dress that complemented her messy blonde hair, eyed Musubi fearfully, going from her legs to her breasts to her face. Tears began to streak down her face.

"I can't fight her," she sobbed. "She already beat me in every way possible…"

Kazehana's gaze continued to go back and forth between the crybaby and The Veiled Sekirei. Her opponent was standing still, waiting to see how this played out. Kazehana knew she had her, whenever she wanted, and Uzume knew it, too.

"Please," said the boy, putting an arm in front of the girl, "We're not looking to fight. We're just trying to find a way out of the city."

Musubi was shocked. "What? Why?!"

The boy looked at his girl, his Sekirei. "Kuno's too weak to fight, and neither of us want anything to do with this crazy plan."

Kazehana was listening to the exchange, her opponent still waiting patiently for her to make the first move. Two lovers, looking to run away into the night together, away from all the harshness of a war. It's was so cornily romantic that it almost made her completely lose track of her opponent.

Then, Kazehana had an idea. She knew Uzume had her reasons for going after this Sekirei specifically, just like she'd had her reasons for challenging single numbers in spite of her lesser power. Sooooo…

Kazehana swept her hand aside, unleashing a shockwave of pressurized air in front of her. As she expected, The Veiled Sekirei leapt up and back, avoiding it and letting it roll a nearby car on to its roof. As she touched back down, Kazehana repeated her attack, over and over again, driving Uzume away from her prey.

They needed to talk.

Glancing behind her, she could see that Musubi and the other two were gone. Hopefully, that meant Musubi had decided to hear them out.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

On Numbers 10 and 67, anyone hoping to see something more develop between them is either going to be gleeful or foaming at the mouth before this fanfic is over. My psychic powers tell me, "Probably both." Those hoping to _not_ see something develop will likely experience similar reactions. Either way, I promise there will be more Kagedansu in the future, as he is and will be an essential part of the plot.

Think about what his name means.


	21. Need a Plan

Kazehana was the first to return, saying that she chased off the Veiled Sekirei and had decided to call it a day. She trusted Musubi enough to assume that she wouldn't be out on her own at night, not with dinnertime fast approaching. Besides, Kazehana hadn't seen Minato for entire _hours_.

"Minato!" she called, upon entering the front door. When no response came, her instincts told her he was upstairs.

And he was: pressed against the wall by a giggling, lingerie-clad Matsu, the redhead rubbing her soft breasts up and down against his chest and looking like how Dr. Frankenstein did when he screamed, "IT'S ALIVE! _IT'S_ _ALIVE!_ "

Minato desperately appealed to Kazehana for aid with a look, and she did. Shouldering Number 2 over so that _she_ could get her melons pressed against his chest as well, she got Minato's hand off of Matsu's shoulder and pinned it beside his waist. Matsu took the cue and did the same with his other hand.

"Guys, come on! Cut it out!" Minato protested in a hushed voice.

"Oh, come on, Minato, don't tell me you haven't fantasized about this," Matsu said, licking his left ear.

"I know _we_ have," whispered Kazehana, guiding Minato's right hand around her neck and down over her breast.

The two women gave each other a mischievous look, then grasped Minato by the shoulders and dragged him to the floor, peeling his shirt off in the process.

"Wait, Miya might- mmh!" Matsu silenced any further protest by straddling his waist and kissing him full on the lips. As her golden wings lit up the room, Kazehana felt up her friend's back with her hand and popped the button on her bra. As Matsu's luscious mounds bounced down, Kazehana began pulling her purple dress up around her plush buttock, all the while kissing her way up Minato's neck. Minato, for his trouble, hesitantly placed a hand over one of Matsu's exposed nipples and the other on Kazehana's to give them both a little squeeze. The two women squealed with pleasure and redoubled their efforts.

Matsu was sliding her whole body up and down Minato's, crumpling his shirt up to his neck, and Kazehana was completely naked when the secret door to Matsu's room swung open.

And then, without a word of warning, the Ladle of Wrath descended to met out punishment.

"Shame on you, Minato," Miya scolded him. "And to think I had your word of honor about this. Just for that, there will be no supper for any of you."

Minato simply hung his head and nodded. Matsu and Kazehana were scared into compliance with a well-placed hanyo glare. But just to be safe, Miya confined Matsu to her room and Kazehana to the roof for the next half-hour.

At the end of it all, Kazehana's previous assumption about Musubi had been half-right, because as soon as Number 88 arrived back and found Minato playing Naho with Ku, she'd grabbed him by the wrist and hauled him out the door, speeding down the sidewalk and into the night. Sighing, smiling, and lamenting her sore body, Kazehana followed through the air.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's so sweet!" Kazehana swooned. "Wearing his coat and realizing he's the one! Falling in love is what Sekirei were meant to do!"

"Anyway, Kuno told me she couldn't fight, not after her run-in with those two lightning girls, so we decided to escape the capital," Kuno's Ashikabi, Shigi, said.

"Escape the capital?" Minato repeated.

"Yeah," Shigi confirmed. "We tried once today, but there were…"

Shigi's voice trailed off as he and Kuno turned very pale.

"Issues?" Musubi suggested.

"Well, that's _one_ way to put it…" Shigi said. That wasn't _quite_ what he would call a terrifying Sekirei with razor-sharp metal claws and an unnervingly upbeat demeanor about death.

"She was one of the Discipline Squad," Kuno whimpered. "They're a team of strong Sekirei who follow MBI's orders."

"And according to Kuno, they don't hesitate to kill Ashikabis if they think they have to," Shigi said ominously.

Minato visibly swallowed. Shigi sympathized with him. He'd caught Director Hiroto's message on a TV outside an electronics shop, and he knew that as jovial as Minaka had been, he was _dead_ serious about no one escaping.

Shigi stood up.

"I get it," he said. "You can relax because you have two strong Sekirei. Meanwhile, I…" He sighed, then felt a tug on his shirt.

"You kissed me, and said I was your girl," Kuno murmured. "I said I'd be with you, now and forever..."

Shigi felt very bad about himself.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I won't compare," he told her, reaching down and wiping away the tears from around her eyes. This drew a lovey-dovey sigh from Minato's other woman, the one who'd fought the Veiled Sekirei earlier that day.

"Lovers trying to run away with each other!" she said, her hands pressing against her cheeks and blushing. "It's so romantic!"

Shigi should've felt heartened by this, but it only made his frustration grow larger.

"Dammit, I want out of this insane plan!" Shigi growled, banging his fist on the wall. "At least to get away from the landlord's constant complaining."

"Yeah, he does do that a lot," Minato chuckled, scratching the back of his head. Seems Shigi was in the same predicament that Minato had been in earlier that week. A thought occured to him.

"You know," Minato said as Shigi continued to stew, "I actually have another Sekirei. Maybe she'll know what to do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Escaping the capital's no joke," Matsu said. "While I _can_ hack their orbital satellites and temporarily shut them down, MBI still has heavy troop presence on all of the bridges, not to mention the Discipline Squad."

"So you're saying it's impossible?" Minato asked.

"Not at all, just that it's going to be difficult," she said. "I'm glad you agreed to help them, though. I would've been very surprised if you'd turned them down."

"Well, you know me," Minato chuckled nervously. "Always happy to help!"

Speaking of helping, it was good to know that Matsu could, in fact, take care of those satellite lasers. With all her computer prowess, he wondered what else she could break into, like maybe-

" _Entrance exams are tomorrow!_ " Minato exclaimed. He folded up into a fetal position on the floor. In all of this hassle with Sekirei and battles and escape plans, he'd completely forgotten to study! Cram classes could only carry him so far, and even now he felt all of the knowledge he'd accumulated flying off into the wild blue yonder, beyond his ability to recall.

"Minato."

Minato felt Matsu's hands pressed to his face as she gently pulled him upright.

"I know you can pass them," she said. "I've read your grades from high school and looked at your previous test results. You made different mistakes each time. It's not that you're not stupid or incompetent…"

Matsu gazed into Minato's eyes. He felt his anxiety begin to evaporate.

"You just need to believe in yourself."

He relaxed as Matsu kissed him, feeling something stir within himself as her golden wings lit the dark room. Maybe she was right. He felt less relaxed when, after pulling away, a tooth-filled grin split her face cheek-to-cheek.

"Besides, if you fail, I can just hack the system and change your grades! Hee hee… _HAHAHAHAHAHA_!"

Minato hastily retreated to his own room. Nightmare fuel was the _last_ thing he needed on a night like tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The yellow eyes had returned.

This time, they were looking down at the brief skirmish that had happened today between Tsukiumi and the others in that alley. Once again, they narrowed as they took note of Minato's actions, his protection of Tsukiumi from both the other Sekirei and that Ashikabi, Seo. Once again, she could see the wheels in whatever head they belonged to turning, scheming. And as the fighting came to a close, once again it all evaporated into ashes: the buildings, her friends, her big brother, and she was left all alone in a field of fire, black lightning crackling overhead, swirling around the skies-

She jolted awake. Miya slept on her bed as usual, but Kusano knew there was only one person who could save her from the eyes. She hopped out of bed and slid the door open, running down the hall to her big brother's room. As she neared the door, a light flickered on behind her and she screeched to a halt.

Her shadow was being cast on the door, but the silhouette didn't belong to her. This was someone much taller, broader, with its hands about its waste, like they were in its pockets. Whatever it wore, the collar was flared out about its thick neck and its legs were hidden by what must have been loose-fitting pants.

And from where its face would be, the yellow eyes stared back at her. She stood there, frozen in terror. The eyes narrowed and the shadow's head tilted slightly as it spoke.

"You're not… _Afraid_ of me, are you, child?" Its voice was wispy and soft, but also deep and resonant. It spoke a foreign language, yet the meaning of its words was somehow conveyed. There was a mocking undertone about it, like it knew something that it wasn't telling her, and yet even _that_ seemed somewhat insincere.

Kusano tried to run from it, back to the light that was casting the shadow, trying to find someone, _anyone_ that could drive it away. She found herself staring at the shadow again, this time cast over the open door on to Minato's sleeping body. The other Sekirei lay with him: Musubi, Matsu, Kazehana, even Uzume and Tsukiumi were there. The eyes were lower on the wall, inspecting the slumbering forms before acquiring the same intrigued look it had before.

"Helloooo, who is this?" it breathed, focusing on Uzume. Kusano turned away again, back to the closed door. These eyes were still looking at her, the shadow's arms now folded, its neutral expression turned to… Scorn?

"You can't run from the dark forever, child," it rumbled. "It's always there: around you, within you; it's unavoidable."

The shadows began to grow, consuming the walls of the inn around her.

"Though I must wonder… How are _you_ able to sense me, but no one else?"

Kusano awoke again, for real this time (she hoped), to see Miya leaning over her. This time, the room was well-lit by sunlight.

"Is everything all right, Kusano?" she asked. "You've been tossing in your sleep."

Kusano sat up in her little cot and hugged Miya's waist, tears welling up around her eyes.

"Miya, promise you'll keep Big Brother safe!" she sobbed. Miya was a bit surprised by this, but overcame it and returned Kusano's hug.

"I'll do my best, but I can't be there for him all the time," she said gently.

"Then I will!" Kusano declared, letting go and clenching her tiny little hand in a fist. "I'll keep _everyone_ safe from them!"

"From who, Ku-chan?"

"The yellow eyes," she sniffed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Minato left the inn, his Sekirei in tow, he spied a familiar face approaching the entrance. Seo greeted him, Hibiki and Hikari accompanying him. He seemed to be in a far better mood than the girls.

"Seo-san?" Minato asked. "What are you doing here? Are you looking for a room?"

"Nah," Seo said, waving a hand in front of him. "We came here for Miya's cooking."

"We're out of food again…" Hikari muttered. Hibiki simply sighed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Good luck, Minato!" Musubi said.

"Pass you exams and I'll give you a special reward…" Kazehana added, jiggling her hips. Minato felt the blood rushing to his nose.

Ku had come as well, giving him a big hug. She'd told him about the nightmare, and once again he'd been left without anything to say to her. Still, it looked like she'd gotten over it.

"Hey, guys?" Minato asked. "You think you could ask Matsu to get Seo's address? He once said his best friend was part of MBI. Maybe he can help us?"

Musubi nodded, as did Kazehana.

"Who's Seo?" Kusano asked.

"A bum," Kazehana said. "But a good man."

Minato laughed, his tension bursting from his mouth. He knew he was delaying the inevitable, and there was no excuse for tardiness. Inhaling deeply, he turned around and, for the third time in his life, marched to where the entrance exams awaited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Looking to take on MBI?" Seo asked, leaning back on his couch. "You have some serious brass, kid."

Hibiki and Hikari sat on either side of him. They were wearing color-coded dresses, the same blue-vs-purple combination as their standard S&M attire. Looking at them now, they looked surprisingly normal.

"Personally, I don't like the way MBI's running things," Seo said, looking out the crack in the window, "taking control of the capital like they own the place, never mind the whole Sekirei plan."

"So, you'll help us?" Shigi asked, hopeful. Kuno's eyes lit up as well.

"Yeah, I'll help," Seo said, rubbing his index finger against his thumb, "For a fee."

" _You want us to_ pay _you?!_ " Shigi barked.

"Why not? A man's got to eat, doesn't he?" Seo said casually. Minato took out his phone and began dialing as Seo continued. "Grown-ups don't work for free."

When Minato finished, he put the phone to his ear.

"Who are you calling?" Hibiki asked, somewhat suspicious.

Minato didn't answer her, instead talking into his phone. "It's Minato-san… Yeah, he is…"

He offered the phone to Seo. "It's for you, Seo-san."

"Me?" Seo asked. He took the phone. "Hello?"

"You weren't extorting money from my tenant, were you?" came the voice on the other end. Seo felt the specter of a hanyo creeping up behind him.

"N-no! I would never!" Seo stammered.

"Who did you call?" Musubi asked, sitting next to Minato.

"The Landlady," Minato answered. This drew a chuckle from his gathered Sekirei.

"Kaoru-san, you will help them," the Landlady said, "Or you will never eat my food again."

"No! Please! Have mercy!" Seo shrieked. The twins sighed. Miya had known _exactly_ which button to push.

"Minato, you sneaky boy," Kazehana said, leaning on the back of the couch and wrapping her arms about him.

Miya's serene wrath concluded and Seo closed the phone.

" _That was a rotten trick, you bastard!_ " Seo growled, grabbing Minato's collar and yanking him off the couch, away from Kazehana's affectionate embrace.

Kazehana's irritation was obvious. "Excuse me, I wasn't done with him, Seo."

"Agh," Seo retched, releasing the young ronin. "Fine, I'll help, but only because I like you guys."

"Really?" Musubi asked innocently. "I thought you were helping because Miya-sama is really scary."

Seo's face turned bright red and he ground his teeth together. There was nothing he could say to Musubi that would counter her statement. He couldn't even get mad at her; she was too naïvely sweet.


	22. One Last Chance to Love

**Author's Note** :

I feel it is only fair to tell all of you that things are going to get heavy down there, and the effect of it will only become apparent much, _much_ later. If you're looking for substantial advancement of the plot (rather, the immediate plot, not the long-term plot), then I recommend you skip to the next chapter.

Heh. No I don't...

* * *

The plan was set. They would move out tomorrow night. Three Ashikabis all in the same place would never go unnoticed, and MBI was nothing if not quick on the uptake. They would've gone right away, but preparations had to be made. Matsu needed a secure line to the satellites, and to check troop rotations. Musubi and Kazehana had to figure out the division of labor, as when MBI's troops showed up there wouldn't be time for discussion. For Shigi and Kuno, that one night allowed them to gather what meagre provisions they could carry to Kyoto, where Shigi's parents waited for him.

Moreover, it gave Kazehana time to confirm her little side plan.

"So, are you done considering?" she asked Uzume, as they passed each other in the upstairs hallway.

Uzume studied the floor as she walked by. "I'm still thinking about it."

Kazehana sighed. "Well, at least you're considering," she conceded. Nothing she could do except hope for the best. And speaking of the best, she peeked into Minato's room to find her Ashikabi there, lying on the bedroll, staring at the ceiling.

The sight of him, this young man who'd so recently come into her life and yet changed it in more ways than she ever could've imagined, made a lump form in Kazehana's throat. She tried her hardest not to let it show, instead sneak-crawling around Minato's prone form and surprising him by leaning over his face.

"You're rather stare at the drywall than me?" Kazehana teased, her breasts and face obstructing his view.

"Oh, hi Kazehana," he said. His cheerful smiled waned slightly. "Is something wrong?"

"Just the usual," Kazehana said, sitting back on her heels. Minato was surprised that she hadn't tried to climb on top of him, given the position he was in. "Just preparing for an assault on MBI that might get us all killed."

"Don't say that!" he exclaimed, forcing a smile on to his face and rolling to his stomach. "I'm sure everyone will be fine!"

"You haven't met the Black Sekirei," Kazehana said, hugging her legs to her chest. "I have. She's a real bitch, with a mean streak a mile wide. And she's second only to Number 1 in power."

"She's that bad, huh?" Minato asked.

"Worse." Kazehana looked into her Ashikabi's eyes, her own eyes welling up with fear. "If she shows herself on the bridge, there's a good chance that she'll kill us all."

"Kazehana, what's gotten in to you?!" Minato asked.

"Nothing, it's just…" Her voice trailed off. She sat their, quietly contemplating her next words, how best to explain the cauldron of anxieties bubbling over inside of her. When she'd figured herself out, she pulled up alongside him, and took his arm between her own, leaning against him like she had the night they'd walked each other home. Thinking back made Kazehana gleam a little within, her mood lifting somewhat. Oh, sure, it had been his apartment, and she'd had no plans on staying, but an hour later his home became hers as they were forever entwined.

Which only made her sorrow rise to the surface again.

"Those two get to live happily ever after together, free of the Sekirei Plan, free of MBI," she murmured, turning her head into his shoulder. "Meanwhile..." Something wet soaked through the cloth of Minato's pajama-shirt. "You and me and the others have to stay here."

Minato wasn't sure if he should say it, given how she was taking this, but say it he did.

"We could, I don't know..." Minato stopped himself as Kazehana confirmed what he was thinking.

"No, it wouldn't sit right with me, or with anyone," she agreed, sensing his unfinished sentiment. "I'll see this crazy thing through to the end. I'm not one to run away, romantic as it would be. And I want the prize at the end as much as the next girl."

"Wait, there's a prize for all of this?" Minato asked.

Kazehana lifted her face and nodded, glistening trails descending down her cheeks. "Most assume that it's just being allowed to stay with their Ashikabi, but Matsu once said it might be more than that. The only ones who might know are Minaka or Number 1."

She let one leg slide out, resting her hands on her raised knee, and her chin on her hands. "Whatever it is, every Sekirei knows they want it," she whispered tearfully. "We can all feel it: this pull, the same kind that draws us to our Ashikabi. It lets us know we're on the right track when we fight. That's why we're all going along with this insane plan."

"But it seems some don't want it as much," Minato noted, referring to the would-be escapees.

"Some Sekirei are just better than others. Kuno's weak, so she's not as drawn to the prize as I am." She let out a wistful sigh and screwed her eyes shut, her voice shaking. "I envy her for that. I know I shouldn't want it and that it'll never be worth it..." She met his alarmed gaze, her eyes begging him to set her free of her invisible chains. "But I do."

Minato tentatively reached over and unwedged one of Kazehana's hands from between her kneecap and jaw. When she felt him place it beneath her own, leaning on it a little, her sorrows began to flow away as she found a warm, honest smile to comfort her.

"But if you were weak," he said, "then the Twins would've beaten you that day, and we never would've found each other"

Now Kazehana was smiling. "That's true," she returned, unfurling her limbs and climbing up his body to place his lips against her own. She eased her body into the arc of his, her breasts snuggling up against his pecs. On instinct her arms slid around his back, one snaking up to the back of his head. As it pressed his mouth and tongue further into their kiss, The Wind Sekirei felt her Ashikabi's hands take hold of her face, firm but not in the least bit rough, sinking into her cheeks before sliding back. He wanted her to feel the full of his caress; his hands seemed to be sweeping back her mounting doubts as they fell sideways on to Minato's bed roll. Kazehana's leg raised to hook the back of Minato's mirroring limb, her foot tucking itself between the warmth of his thighs.

Sufficiently tangled, Kazehana finally drew away from the kiss; her eyes sparkled with the same shimmering stars that shone above the rooftop. "It was worth every moment."

Her arms tightened around his back as Minato's did the same around her. She rolled them over so that she lay on top of him, resting her head on his shoulder. She straddled his leg, hugging it between her own.

"Minato, I don't know if I can stand being this close to you," she huffed breathlessly. Her Ashikabi wasn't quite sold on what she was getting at, not until she fully settled in on top of him uttered the four magic words.

"Do you want me?"

Minato separated from her and gazed into her eyes. This was the same look she'd had when she'd fallen for him, the night he'd become her Ashikabi: tenderness, care, and affection. But here it was tainted with other things: despair, fear, and doubt, all of it leaking from her eyes. Unlike that night, when he'd managed to hold on to himself, his cares slipped away and he felt the rest of the world go with them. The only thing he could see right now was Kazehana, see how much she needed him, wanted him. He wasn't entirely sure how, but he could feel her mounting anxiety within himself, like a knot in his chest, right next to his heart.

In answer to her question, he leaned close and kissed her. She shuddered a bit as her wings materialized from the Sekirei crest on her back. Her arms moved further up, one about his head and the other around his shoulders, as she eased her body into the arc of his. Minato instinctively returned the gesture, the lovers pulling each other close, reassuring one another with their presence, until Kazehana started to slide back on to the floor, dragging Minato down to her. The eventually broke their kiss, their eyes opening ever so slightly to take in the other. Kazehana felt the press of Minato's chest against her own, her impossibly soft breasts like a pair of clouds. She knew that he knew what she wanted, and that he wanted it, too.

The moment was broken when the visage of an enormous bear came roaring through the door. The two practically leapt out of their own skins, before noticing that it was not a bear, but Musubi in her pajamas.

"Well, good night, guys!" she chirped, before trotting off to her room.

Kazehana and Minato shared a laugh. It seemed Miya's training was working better than they expected. Kazehana then slid a hand around Minato's cheek and guided his face back towards hers.

"Wait, Kazehana," Minato said.

Kazehana opened her eyes. "What's the matter?"

"It's just, well…" Hehesitated. "If we get caught here, Miya will throw us out for sure."

Kazehana's face lit up with elation. She had an idea.

"Grab your blankets, Minato," she commanded, standing up. "And your bedroll."

"What?" Minato asked, perplexed. "Why?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato looked around at all the foliage surrounding him, feeling the soft earth beneath his feet. He never thought he'd be standing on terra firma that was a good 30 stories up from the ground, yet here he was, Kazehana leading him by the hand deeper into the man-made jungle on top of this skyscraper.

"What is this place?"

"It's a greenhouse," Kazehana answered softly. "The penthouse owner used to maintain it, but after he died the new tenant didn't seem to come up here. So I… 'appropriate' it when I need a place to stay."

"You weren't staying at the Izumo inn?" Minato asked.

"Miya and I weren't the best of friends," Kazehana replied, halting and turning to face him. "If I can confess, she probably wouldn't have let me stay if not for you."

She leaned up and kissed him. Minato dropped the bundle he was carrying, the bedroll falling to the ground and unfurling. He'd rolled it up with the blankets still on it, so the whole thing unpackaged itself in a ruffled but no less serviceable sleeping arrangement. Though neither of them had any intention of sleeping on it.

She broke from the kiss. "So that's one more thing I owe to you, Mina-kun." She hooked her fingers into his shirt.

"Kazehana, wait," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just, uh-" Minato began.

"You're a virgin." She could read him like a map. Minato was many things, but self-confident was not one of them. It didn't bother her. If anything, it only made him that much more lovable.

"Well," he said, embarrassedly scratching the back of his head, "Yeah."

She leaned in close, placing her mouth next to his ear.

"Then I get to be your first woman," she whispered, before beginning to nibble on the lobe. Her hands began feeling about his hips, looking for his belt buckle. In the midst of their search, they happened upon what slumbered beneath his zipper; it had already started to stir.

"My my..." Kazehana murmured through her clenched teeth. "Someone's excited to see me."

Minato may have been a first-timer, but he wasn't completely clueless. While Kazehana fiddled about his nether regions, he undid her hair tie and let her beautiful raven-colored locks flow freely. He ran a hand through them, feeling the smooth strands run between his fingers as he gently stroked them back, not wanting anything to get in the way of him looking at her.

Kazehana finally found his belt buckle and undid it, releasing his ear lobe and pulling his trousers down. The creature between his legs had partially awakened. She leaned in close and got a small sniff of the odor that wafted from his boxer shorts.

"Mmmmm... The smell of a man..."

 _The smell of **my** man, _ she thought. She was so happy that she might cry out in joy.

As she stood, Kazehana grasped Minato's shirt, tore it off, and attacked his lips with her own. Despite her numerous attempts to get him unclothed, she'd never seen Minato without his shirt on before. He was spindly about the arms, and certainly not bulky, but she could pick out every angle of the musculature on his torso. If there was any fat on him at all, it was invisible, a fact she reveled in as she ground her body against his.

Flinging her high-heeled shoes from her feet, she paused in her passion to raise her arms above her head. Minato, quick on the draw as always, grasped the skirt of her skin-tight dress and tenderly peeled it off. She reveled in how it clung to her, feeling it knot up and constrict around her breasts, then her arms. Then it was off, discarded with the rest of their clothing.

She stood there, completely nude, her face flush with no small amount of anticipation and desire. Unwilling to wait any longer, Kazehana kneeled down and dropped Minato's boxers to the floor. Her eyes widened at the sight of his manhood springing to life and she took a long, intoxicating whiff, breathing in the cloud of pheromones that she'd unleashed. She stood back up, pressing herself against him and resuming her grind, almost like a rehearsal for what would come next. This time, there was no pesky clothing to get in the way. Both of them could feel the warmth of the other's flesh, Minato's stiff and wiry, Kazehana's soft and plush. And to both of them, it felt amazing.

Minato leaned down and began kissing her neck. Kazehana, letting out a soft moan, reached down to give him a helping hand. Minato's teeth began to nip at her neck, sending sparks of electric pleasure down her back and causing it to arch into his. This only got him more excited.

"Oooh, keep doing that. Minato..."

Her bountiful chest beginning to heave, Kazehana slid her arms over his shoulders and raised one knee to his hip, inviting him in. Hooking a hand under her thigh and hoisting it up, Minato accepted her invitation.

Kazehana's eyes widened and she pushed waist into his as the two became one. Hopping off her remaining leg and encircling it around his hip, she began to grind, her breasts gliding up and down against his chest.

"So... Tight..." he gasped, the pleasure of feeling Kazehana's insides threatening to overwhelm him. Kazehana couldn't speak; even at a slow pace, Minato's girth was turning her mind into mush. All she could think was how... _complete_ she felt, when she bothered to think at all.

Minato sank to one knee, Kazehana's raised thigh now resting on top of his, opening her up even more. Her fingers dug into Minato's back, purely on reflex, as she let out a guttural moan of ecstasy.

Her lips ensnared his and their tongues began wrestling, fighting over the sweet nectar they offered to each other. Kazehana dropped her leg from his hip and planted her foot on the ground, offering her better leverage to love-make. He returned it in kind, each thrust drawing a soft moan from her entwined lips. Kazehana was starting to build to a faster rhythm, but Minato was going slower, less confident in his prowess.

"Stronger," she breathed, breaking from the kiss just long enough to utter the word before going back to him, her wings lighting up the greenhouse again.

He obliged, his movements becoming more vigorous. Their hips gyrated in sync, every meeting of their loins making her tender flesh quiver and her breasts jiggle. She pushed off of her foot and dragged them both on to the unkempt bedroll. One of her hands moved from his back to his head and pressed his face to her tit. Minato did not disappoint, suckling on it and drawing ever-louder cries from her.

"Keep going!" Kazehana moaned. "Oooh, Minato, you're tongue is amazing!"

Kazehana's whole form went from gyrating to writhing more and more uncontrollably, twisting and pulling herself beneath Minato as he continued to pound away. Minato opened his mouth wider and drew more of Kazehana's breast in. He then eased his head back, pulling on her tit and drawing a long, high-pitched squeal from her. Being a Sekirei, the throes of passion had made her whole body much more sensitive than it usually was, and it shivered from the high. When her cry began breaking into short staccatos of heated breath, Minato released her and let her round, full breast bounce back into place with an audible pop. The sensation was so sweet that Kazehana's whole body bucked and she began to feel a pressure building within her loins.

"Kazehana, I'm close!"

She knew what was coming, and she wanted it ever so badly. She drew his head to her other breast, so unjustly unattended, even while she began fondling her tenderized tit, circling around and around while Minato saw to her other. Her ankles locked behind his waist. "Give it to me, Minato! All of it!"

Lying in his arms, her flesh covered in sweat, her eyes closed so as not to interfere with the sensation of his touch, Kazehana felt perfect. Like a runaway train their movements sped up into a frenzy of zeal and lust, Minato hammering away at Kazehana like a steam piston. Her mouth was open and her voice carried the screams of her adulation all throughout the greenhouse.

"Oh GOD, **YESYESYESYES _YYYYEEEEEEEESSSS!_** "

After a long screech, her eyes rolled back into her head and ecstasy exploded from their connected loins. Tears of joy rolled down Kazehana's face as porcelain her legs pulled him deeper into her embrace, feeling the rush as Minato poured all of his passion into her.

Then, it was over, the cool air of the greenhouse settling on them. Spent, Minato rolled off of her and separated. Kazehana drew a long breath, then let it out in a contented sigh. She gazed at her Ashikabi, her face still gleaming with sweat and heavenly fluids, flush from their exertions. She, a superhuman Sekirei, could've kept going, but after partaking in the potent concoction of their lovemaking, she couldn't be more satisfied.

She reached over to caress his cheek, afraid that he might evaporate, that this wonderful dream she shared would come to an end.

"I love you," she whispered. It had been so long since she'd said that.

He returned her gaze, tentatively returning her touch. She put her hand over his, pressing it to her cheek and closing her eyes.

"And I love you, Kazehana," Minato softly replied. He'd known her for less than two weeks, yet he felt completely comfortable saying that. It just felt... _r_ _ight_ , hearing himself utter those words.

She rolled up against him and they kissed one more time, her wings illuminating the foliage around them. There was no place she wanted to be but here, feeling the warmth of her beloved Ashikabi.


	23. Breaking Loose, Hopefully

Kusano dreamed she was in a pretty field of flowers. There wasn't anyone else around, so she spent time talking and playing with the plants. They asked her how she was, about her big brother, wondering how she could talk to them. These were some very curious plants.

She heard the twang of a string instrument being strummed. From a grove of trees it came, and her curiosity got the better of her. Skipping her way to the tree line, she found herself in a shadowy forest, leaves covering the ground. A voice echoed through the wood, singing a song.

 _Rain-bows… are visions… but only… illusions… and rain-bows-have nothing... to hide…_

These trees were not like any she'd seen. The leaves were of a strange design. They called themselves Maple, but they were different from the maple trees she'd come to know. They whispered that they were from across the water, a place called North America.

 _So-we've-been-told-and-some-choose-to-be-lieve it…_

She sensed something out there, like she had with the yellow eyes, but this was a different feeling. She felt safe, comfortable, like she did around Minato. But the voice didn't belong to her big brother.

 _I-know-they're-wrong, wait... and see._

The trees grew thicker, a few beams of sunlight shining through the canopy as she continued her trek towards the voice. Whoever it was, she was really enjoying their song.

 _Some-day-we'll-find-it… the rain-bow con-nection…_

She sensed a grove ahead, similar to the one she'd slept in while waiting for her brother.

 _The lovers…_

She parted the curtain of vines with her power, and saw a figure sitting cross-legged on a large stump. The figure was blurred, hiding his form from her. The six-stringed instrument he played was quite visible.

 _The dreamers…_

She recognized that voice now. It sounded like Kagedansu, the Sekirei who'd yelled at Kazehana and Uzume, yet it wasn't. It sounded softer, calmer than the giant's booming baritone. And it sang in a language as foreign as that of the yellow eyes. But, just like with the yellow eyes, Ku could still understand their meaning.

 _And me._

As his strumming continued, the dream began to fade. Ku tried to hold on to it, wanting to hear more, but the vision was lost as she awoke.

Rubbing her eyes and sliding out of bed, she shambled down the hall and into her big brother's room, settling on to his chest between the sleeping forms of Musubi and Matsu. Maybe _he_ could help her return to the dream, like how he'd kept the yellow eyes away. This had been the first good dream she'd had in a while, and that song was already fading from her mind. She had to get it back.

Though, as she slipped back into dreamland, she wondered what that musky scent was that her brother had covered himself in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato dreamed as well. He was on the edge of the lake, the same lake as last time. The water had risen in a line, illuminating a path to the center. The visage of the blonde goddess had fully formed, wasting no time.

She was sitting on the edge of her water pedestal, facing him but looking off to the side. Her porcelain legs were crossed in front of her, and her arms folded under her generous cleavage. She looked no less radiant than before, her black clothing and choker complementing her fair skin and white underskirt. Her brow was furrowed in contemplation.

"I wonder…" she mused as he approached. He was hesitant to do so, but after the terms they'd left on, he wasn't expecting any trouble. Besides, the best thing about dreams was that they had all had a rapid "eject" button should things turn sour, though he was hoping this one would remain pleasant. He certainly wasn't in any hurry, not with a beautiful woman like Tsukiumi in company.

The Water Sekirei turned her gaze on him. Her look was assertive, as was her way, but not hostile. Her narrowed eyes, not hostile but most scrutinous, roamed up and down his form, gauging his worth. Minato suddenly felt very small, as this was the same look his mother would always give him, whenever she thought he'd stepped out of line.

"What manner of man art thou, calling me 'thy Sekirei'?"

Before he could formulate an answer, suddenly very flustered by such a simple question, consciousness greeted him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato awoke back in his room, his Sekirei having snuck in again. They were all awake, hovering over him as he opened his eyes. Well, all except for Kazehana, funny enough. The Wind Sekirei was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, Minato!" Musubi chirped. "We were wondering..."

She hesitated, not sure if she was about to say something bad. "What's that smell?" she asked worriedly.

"What smell?" Minato asked.

"That smell that says you went to bed a lot later than we did." Matsu needled her point home, lest Minato be too drowsy to connect the dots. "What kept you up? A little late-night exercise? _Hmmmm?_ "

Minato blinked the sleep away from his eyes, allowing him to see the Green-Eyed Monster perched on Matsu's shoulder, and thought back. He had a vague recollection of lying next to Kazehana for… Actually, they'd sort of just held each other for a while, in the greenhouse, letting the aftereffects of their lovemaking wash over them. He vaguely remembered fondling her, and despite how sleepy he'd been she'd then teased him enough to get him up for a second round, atop his hips. At some point they'd gotten dressed and left for the inn, the fresh night air fanning off the heavy musk that had settled on both of them.

Apparently, it hadn't been enough.

"That's one way to put it," Kazehana said, appearing at his door. She had her purple dress on, not a mark of dirt on it.

"So what's another way of putting it?"

"Not in front of Ku," smirked the Wind Sekirei.

" _But I wanna hear it!_ " Kusano demanded, clenching her hands into angry fists and clearly having no idea what anyone was talking about.

"Something like that, then?" Matsu asked.

"Like what?" Musubi was totally lost.

"Well, if you really want to know," Kazehana said loudly, not taking her eyes off of Matsu, "Let me tell you _exactly_ what happened last night. First, I took off my shoes, then Minato's shirt, and after he helped me-"

The clang of a metal ladle cut her off.

"My rule about indecent subject matter aside," Miya said, the hanyo mask looming behind her, "speaking of such things in front of a child? I'm surprised at you, Kazehana."

Kazehana rubbed her head, no witty retort on hand to speak of.

"And you two." Miya turned her gaze on the other women, who recoiled in fear. "Must I remind you of my law against illicit behavior?"

"But we never even got to that part!" Matsu cried. This earned her a whack on the head, along with Minato.

"What did I do?" Minato cried.

"Please instruct your Sekirei to not talk of illicit acts, either," Miya said, before returning downstairs. Kazehana elected to follow her and leave Minato to suffer under the over-affection of his other Sekirei.

"Need help in the kitchen?" she asked.

"An extra pair of hands never hurt," the widow answered.

Miya knew Kazehana was fairly skilled at cooking. Nowhere near as masterful as the Landlady, but even a well-fed man would be hard-pressed to say no to her food. In between the slicing up of hard-boiled eggs, the rest of the household still absent, Kazehana spoke up.

"Thanks," Kazehana said, "for saving Mina-kun and me from having to explain ourselves."

Miya couldn't help but chuckle, even though she felt the tiniest bit manipulated.

"Explain what, exactly?" Kagari had only just walked in, deigning to grace them with his presence this morning.

"Oh, nothing," Kazehana sighed dreamily. The bishonen took this as a good time to not pry, since he sensed that his inn-mate wouldn't hesitate to whip out the messy details. Instead he moved to the dining room and waited for the rest of the guests roll in.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Matsu had Minato pinned under her as she loomed over his face.

A freakish grin twisted her lips, the tigress having cornered her prey. " _Spill, Mina-tan_. _Aaaall of it_."

"All of what?" Eighty-Eight was still confused.

"All of what big brother did!" Kusano told her. "Last night with Kazehana!"

"Oh, okay!" The brunette sat back on her heels, hands-crossed and at full attention.

Minato did his best not to holler for help. "Uh, Matsu? Can this wait?"

" _Nooo_ _."_

"Really, Matsu? This early in the morning?" Uzume appeared in the doorway, a cat-like smirk on her lips and her revealing pink lingerie a nice mirror to Matsu's. "Then again, it looks like he's set to go."

Minato felt a hand slide over his pants to "size him up" as it were.

"Uzume, really not helping!" he whined.

"You sure about that?" she teased. "What do _you_ think, Matsu?"

" _I think we're ready to experiment a little,"_ said Matsu. Minato let out a small "eep" as Matsu's free hand dug its nails into his shoulder.

The ronin had seen many strange things in the past week: guys that could turn invisible, human lookalikes with superpowers, an entire boarding house filled with gorgeous women, Miya's stellar cooking to name a few. But somehow, the unassuming Wisdom Sekirei _dragging_ him down the hall and into her secret room at _blindingly_ fast speed took the cake.

He found himself thrown into her collection of pillows as the rotating wall somehow slammed shut behind them. Matsu leaned against it, the power light from her monitors casting a frightening orange glow over her form, her glasses reflecting the light and hiding her eyes. He could see her nails digging into the wall as they and their owner salivated over the tasty morsel before them. Minato's mouth tried to move but his lips remained locked shut, paralyzed at this erotic yet far more terrifying vision before him. His Sekirei blurred and was suddenly plowing her breasts against his chest, and her lips against his own. His hand was forcefully shoved against her tit and roughly fondled it, Matsu growling hungrily into his mouth as her wings lit the room and her pelvis began to grind against him. His hand acted on its own, too well-trained by the previous evening to _not_ fondle Matsu's ripe and juicy melon, clinging to her even as she bolted up, sitting on his hips.

 _"Ready or not, Mina-tan..."_

Sunlight flooded the room and Minato braced himself for a whack on the head. But like last time, his rescuer was not who he expected.

"I'm calling it now, Matsu," Uzume said, wearily smiling as she lifted the rabid Sekirei off of him, "you have a condition."

The brunette suddenly found _herself_ pinned to the hallway wall, hers and Matsu's breasts squishing against each other.

" _I don't supposed you'd be up for a little experiment, would you, Uzume?"_

Uzume never stopped smiling. "I'll take a rain-check on that," she told the red-head, her superior strength allowing her to pry Matsu's arms from her own with ease. "Besides, Miya would have us for lunch."

The mention of the landlady's wrath snapped Matsu to her senses. She slid off her potential partner and slinked back into her room, past Minato, who was promptly helped to his feet.

"Don't mind her," said Uzume. "I can tell you Matsu's not _nearly_ as terrifying as she lets on."

Minato frowned at this, and Uzume defensively waved her hands in front of her. "Not from experience!" she said sheepishly. "I just- Ugh, now _I_ look like a perv..."

Minato gently took her palm from her forehead and rested a hand on Uzume's shoulder. "Hey, a _real_ perv would've joined in."

Uzume looked past him. "Matsu!" she heckled accusingly.

Minato followed her gaze, to the redhead's lair, then met Uzume's eyes again. "Can't argue with that, now can I?" he chuckled.

"Pretty sure Matsu wouldn't, either."

"So, Minato," Musubi called, coming out of her own room dressed in her gi, Kusano clinging to her back. "What about Kazehana?"

"Uuuhhh..." Minato studied the wall, hoping to spot an answer.

"It's complicated," Uzume interjected.

"How complicated?"

"Well, do either of you know where babies come from?" she asked. The way Kusano and Musubi, two Sekirei with vast gaps in age and body types, giving each other the exact same clueless look was enough to crack up both she _and_ Minato.

"No," came the two-fold answer.

"Then it's _that_ complicated, though I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out, Musubi" Uzume smiled, then eyed her rescu-ee. "With a little help."

"What about me?!" Ku demanded.

"Too soon to say."

"Grrr, _why?!_ "

"Say, who's ready for breakfast?!" Minato cried. "I sure am!"

Shortly after everyone came downstairs, Uzume was sent back up with a fresh bruise and instructions to change out of her pink nightie.

As when everyone _finally_ got something to eat, a thought occurred to Minato.

"Miya-sama, how do you know about the Sekirei?" he asked.

"My late husband was the lead researcher at MBI," she replied. "He was also how I met that layabout Seo."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a much needed bath and some breakfast, Minato spent the day out and about, Musubi and Ku tagging along with him. Kazehana decided to go her own way for the day.

"Let the others have their turn," she had said to him while they had a moment alone. "I got more than enough of you last night."

Then she'd smiled, leaned close and placed a hand on his crotch.

"Although, if you're up for it…"

Miya's ladle had been there to chastise them both.

Minato sighed as he continued to walk. Kazehana was just insatiable, though not that he was complaining.

On their stroll, the trio took careful note of MBI's troop placement. Rather, Minato took note of the patterns while Ku and Musubi pointed and looked at various things they passed. It didn't appear that they had concentrated their forces around the railroad bridge, and none of the soldiers paid any special attention to him. They merely nodded in his direction, pointing him out as an Ashikabi to their comrades like they always did, and that was the end of it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Either MBI remained ignorant of their plan or they were waiting until nightfall to reveal their hand.

Minato put such thoughts out of his mind. He was enjoying himself with Ku and Musubi, not forgetting about poor Matsu, cooped up in her room all day. She seemed content to be alone in the dark, but Minato's Ashikabi sense told him that Matsu would've preferred to be out and about with him.

As he walked about the streets, neither he nor his Sekirei knew that he was being watched. And the watcher couldn't help but feel just a little bit envious at Minato's attentions paid to the other women, despite her staunch resistance to her Sekirei core's machinations.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Night fell on the city. Izanagi and his brother were up on a rooftop, where the youth could play as loudly as he wanted without angry neighbors banging on his door. As he picked along to guitar solos that had taken him months to figure out, never mind master, he spied something bounding across the rooftops. Halted his late-night strumming, he tugged on Kagedansu's black gi. The Shadow Sekirei emerged from his meditation and opened one eye, his silent question of why his brother had stopped immediately answered.

"Friend of yours?" Izanagi asked, pointing at the soaring shape. Kagedansu blinked, clearing the fog from his eyes, and honed in on the silhouette. It had its long grey hair tied back in a ponytail, and Kagedansu could make out a sword resting at its hip.

"Not a friend of anyone's, if that's who I think it is," Kagedansu said, scowling. "The Black Sekirei, Karasuba."

"What's she doing out this late?"

"Something must be going down. It's the only reason MBI would deploy her."

"You're not going to fight her, are you?"

"No way," Kagedansu said. "The day I fight her is the day I get tired of living."

He then enthusiastically bear-hugged his Ashikabi.

" **NO CHANCE OF _THAT_ , THOUGH!**" Number 67 declared, deafening his little brother.

"You need to get a hobby, Kagedansu…" Izanagi mumbled, wiggling a finger in his ear. No good; it was still ringing like a tuning fork.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Akitsu also spied a member of the Discipline Squad from the window of the limosine. This one also had grey hair, along with bladed gauntlets about her hands and the raggedy remains of a black kimono. Heavy bandaging covered her slender body, though not from any wound, judging by the deadly grace of her movements.

"Something has Minaka riled up," Mutsu remarked.

"Really?" Mikogami inquired. He grew excited. "Maybe we should go see what."

"You sure about that?" Mutsu warned. "The others might miss you, Mikogami."

"I'm sure if they feel ignored, they'll tell me," the youth chided, waving away Mutsu's concern. He turned to his third passenger. "Right, Akitsu?"

"Of course," she said softly. Mikogami's other Sekirei were always giving her dirty looks, since he always asked her to accompany him whenever he went out with Mutsu. She'd tried to tell them that he wasn't playing favorites, that he only needed her to protect him, but her case had fallen on deaf ears.

Still, favorite or no, she was happy to be around him, even if she never showed it.

"Alright then," Mutsu sighed, opening the door. "But if Number 4 shows up, we're gone."

Mikogami might have argued against his first Sekirei, if he hadn't heard Akitsu's account of Mitsuha's termination. He'd already lost one of his collection, and that was one too many.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the-!"

The soldier's shout of surprise was cut off as a second gust of wind slammed into him, sending him to join his squadmate for a swim in the river.

Nearby, Musubi sent a light vehicle tumbling down the street with a mighty Bear Fist attack. She hadn't quite mastered it yet, but it got the job done. She was about to move on to the next one when a familiar voice called out to her. She was delighted to see who it was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside an armored assault vehicle, the gunner rotated his cannon around to train it on the oncomers. Seems that bit of intel had been correct, though he only counted two Sekirei down there. One shot and he could get back to another round of instant-ramen. MREs weren't exactly cuisine, but they were filling.

"But first!" A deep voice penetrated the armored hull. The gunner was knocked silly as meaty hand tore open the hatch and slammed his head into the side of the turret, banging it on the side again and again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu released the helmet he'd grabbed and hopped off the side of the car. Now that the main gun was out, they could start their little game.

"Ladies first," he said, gesturing to the vehicle. Musubi nodded and shot her fist into the side, pulling out a cylinder covered in icky black fluid.

"Ewww!" Musubi exclaimed, shaking it off of her hand.

"As they say over in America, 'Anything can be bought and sold for the right _oil,_ " Kagedansu remarked, squiggling his fingers together like he, too, had been covered by the ooze. "My turn!"

Kagedansu tried a bit further up, slamming his closed hand through the metal. Pulling it out, he found himself holding a vessel which, by the smell, had previously contained cheap noodles.

" **I FOUND A** **BOWL** **! _GOOD FOR ME!_** " he bellowed enthusiastically.

"Ah! Does that mean you won?" Musubi asked, equally happy.

"I dunno," Number 67 shrugged, tossing his prize away. "It's my first time playing."

"But I thought you said _you_ made it up," Musubi said, confused.

"Doesn't mean I know all the rules," Kagedansu countered, shrugging again.

Musubi put a finger to her chin. He _did_ have a point.

"Musubi!"

A gust of wind sent the emerging soldier tumbling out of the open hatch, the pistol in his hand flying into the river. Musubi's guardian landed on the roof, looking at her authoritatively.

"Pay attention!" Kazehana ordered.

"Right!" Musubi called back, clenching her fist.

Kagedansu grinned as the three of them continued to make this an absolutely abysmal day for the troops on the bridge. He had no idea what this was all about, but it was a good time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What are you guys doing out here, anyway?" Izanagi calmly asked, standing next to Minato and watching the carnage unfold.

"We're trying to help Kuno-san and Shigi-san escape!" Kusano said, smiling.

"Neat," was all Izanagi said. His tone suggested that he thought otherwise, but that was just his way.

"Did someone tell you about the plan?" Minato asked, worried that their intentions had become public knowledge

"Kagedansu was bored and my fingers hurt from all the guitar-playing," Izanagi replied, sliding his hands into his pockets. "We happened to be in the neighborhood."

Minato frowned. "You play the guitar?"

"Doesn't everyone?" the closet musician replied. Minato honestly couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

On Minato's opposite side, Kuno was on her knees, her face scrunched up as tears rolled down her face. Even the _male_ Sekirei made her feel inadequate, and _he_ wasn't even competition.

"Hey, cheer up," said her Ashikabi, lifting her head by the chin.

"Yeah!" Ku squeaked, a potted plant balanced on top of her head. "You're almost there!"

Minato had a sinking feeling that the trek across the hundred-meter bridge was going to feel more like a trek across the desert: harsh, grueling, and an experience no one would ever wish to repeat.


	24. A Wrench in the Works

The last of the soldiers were routed in short order. The trio of Sekirei stood in front of the bridge, Musubi and Kagedansu pounding their fists together in triumph. Seeing them like this, it became apparent just how large Kagedansu was, his ham-sized fist in stark contrast to Musubi's more slender hand. Not that it was indicative of any difference in power; Musubi had been laying out soldiers and armored vehicles at just as hurried a rate as the larger Sekirei.

Kazehana, meanwhile, was scanning the cityscape. Izanagi noticed this and began doing so as well. At the same moment as Kazehana, he spotted two forms leaping towards the bridge. There was just light color for him to make out the black attire they wore.

"Kagedansu!" he barked. "Let's go!"

Over at the bridge, Kagedansu turned to his Ashikabi's call and saw what he saw. Signaling the affirmative, he slapped a hand on the shoulders of Musubi and Kazehana and wished them good luck. He then took off down the riverside, Izanagi bounding off in the same direction. Within moments, they were gone.

Minato had by now noticed Kazehana's gaze, and his heart sank as he saw the two forms sail over his head and land in the middle of the bridge.

"So, who's first?" the clawed Sekirei asked, her tone morbidly cheerful.

"My, my, someone's anxious," Kazehana remarked, stepping forward.

"I've been waiting for this all day," the gaunt Sekirei replied. "I'm Number 104, Haihane."

"Well, I aim to please," Kazehana said, swaying her hips suggestively. She then extended an arm towards Haihane. "Number 3, Kazehana."

Haihane frowned, not knowing what to make of her opponent's erotic gesture. A ways behind the square-off, Minato felt a line of blood drip from his left nostril. Having a clear view of Kazehana's alluring posterior, her dress leaving nothing to the imagination, he knew who her gyration was _really_ directed at and _exactly_ what she meant by it.

Meanwhile, Musubi had approached the other Sekirei, her eyes sparkling like a child on Christmas Day.

"Well, what are you so happy about? Don't you know who I am?" the pink-haired girl snarked. "Number 105, Benitsubasa."

"I'm Number 88, Musubi!" Musubi replied, readying herself. "Oh man, _I get to fight a strong opponent!_ "

"Well, someone seems excited. I wonder how long _that_ will last," Benitsubasa sneered as the two charged each other.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On a nearby rooftop, Tsukiumi watched the battle below unfold. For whatever reason, despite her mind's protests, she'd found herself here, to where her Ashikabi was defying the rules of the game for some unfathomable reason.

She sensed the budding bond between herself and him. She was constantly trying to suppress it, certain that she knew better than her own body. When Minato proved himself worthy of her, then she may let him approach her again. A decision made in haste, her body's reaction clouding her judgement, would be a decision she might regret.

"Now what brings the high-and-mighty Number Nine out at this hour?"

Tsukiumi started at the voice, slowing looking to her right. Just as she feared, there stood Number 4.

"Tis mine own business where I go," Tsukiumi replied, managing to keep herself from stuttering.

"I thought as much," Karasuba said simply.

Tsukiumi was hesitant to pry, but she had to be sure…

"Art thou… here to challenge me?" Tsukiumi asked, trying in vain to hide her fear.

"Oh, no," Karasuba said, in as close to enthusiasm as her dead-inside demeanor could allow. "I have someone else in mind tonight, someone far stronger than either of us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana lashed out with her winds, but Haihane weaved to the side and nearly caught Kazehana in the face as she came down, slicing off a bit of her bangs. A flurry of rapid left-right slashes ensued. The Wind Sekirei managed to avoid them at the cost of the long, flowing cuffs of her sleeves. Ducking the latest one, she balled up a wad of air behind her back and then shoved it into Haihane's face. The ensuing gust blew them both apart, the two riding the air current to touch down on their legs. Kazehana, being more practiced at this, landed more on-balance than her opponent.

"What's wrong, am I too much for you?" she taunted. Haihane responded with a sly grin and a grasping strike at Kazehana's heart. The Wind Sekirei twirled aside and flipped back. Her breathing had started to grow heavier. Single number or not, the Discipline Squad were no pushovers. And considering who their captain was, it made sense that they'd have the brass to take on the more powerful single numbers like her.

Minato, still watching from behind, was just glad to see her confidence return. He felt the same, because the rule of one-on-one meant that even if this Black Sekirei showed herself, she'd have to wait.

Minato's heart sank as he realized that such an event would leave Ku and Kuno her only options for opponents. Silently, he urged his Sekirei on, willing them to finish the fight so they could get out of there and back to the Izumo Inn.

Kazehana felt an extra spark of energy fill her, touching a hand to her chest during the ongoing moment of respite.

"Out of air, Number 3?" Haihane mocked.

"Not at all, hun. In fact, I just found my second wind," she replied. A ball of air shot from her hands and exploded against Haihane, sending her flying back. Regaining her footing, Haihane pulled her body into a tight aileron roll as she leapt forward, Kazehana's follow-up attack missing her by a hair's breadth. In an instant, Haihane was upon her, slashing at her with her clawed gauntlets, Kazehana trying to regain her advantage of reach.

On the opposite edge, Musubi was fairing worse than Kazehana. Benitsubasa was a fist-type like her, but being on the Discipline Squad meant that she had far more experience in combat than Musubi did. As such, Benitsubasa had caught her with a few quick jabs while dodging Musubi's more powerful swings, Musubi's cute and girly face marred by a bruise on her cheek. A drop of blood trickled from her mouth from where she'd bitten her lip.

"Those giant fun-bags must be slowing you down," The Red Sekirei jeered, throwing a heavier punch that knocked Musubi against the steel girders. Musubi ducked her opponent's follow-through and countered with an uppercut, her bond with her Ashikabi further empowering the strike. It sent Benitsubasa sprawling, coming to a stop on the railroad tracks.

Benitsubasa rubbed her jaw. Where had _that_ come from? Musubi's opponent got to her feet, growled, and raised a fist.

"Extreme…"

A crackle of pink energy sizzled around her hand.

" _QUAKE!_ "

Benitsubasa slammed a fist into the ground, a shockwave erupting from it and shredding the metal beneath her and her foe. Musubi tried to push off of the crumbling debris, but it merely gave way beneath her. She began to fall, down towards the river, while The Red Sekirei remained safe on pons firma.

Kazehana spared a moment to pull Musubi out of harm's way with a conjured updraft. Seeing her distraction, Haihane seized the moment and rushed in. Kazehana tried to avoid her foe's sudden assault but took a slash across her side, blemishing her beautiful breast with blood.

"One-on-one, Number 3," Haihane mockingly scolded. "Rule-breaking begets punishment."

Gritting her teeth in pain, Kazehana unleashed another gale. Haihane dove straight into the wind, pulling another aileron roll, her spinning claws shredding through the current and then Kazehana's dress. Kazehana clutched her abdomen and conjured a gust, flinging her opponent back. Deciding to change ground, she jumped straight into the air, touching down on the steel girders above the bridge. Haihane followed suit, not seeming to mind the loss of footing.

It was exactly as Kazehana had hoped. As Number 104 reached the peak of her arc, The Wind Sekirei twirled her hands over her head and summoned a whirling wind tunnel. It spiraled up to come straight down on her foe. Caught off-guard in mid-air, Haihane plummeted down, leaving a noticeable dent in the bridge.

Musubi nearly tripped over the prone form of the Blue Sekirei as she continued to trade blows with Benitsubasa.

"Sorry!" Number 88 said, trying to avoid stepping on her. Benitsubasa, looking past her foe, noticed that Ms. Melons had touched back down in front of that wimpy kid, the one holding the small child's hand. She quickly realized, to her dismay, what was about to happen.

"Come on, Haihane! _Get up!_ " she urged her partner.

Musubi tried to seize the moment but Benitsubasa was expecting her, dodging Musubi's fist as it whizzed past her face. Using her own momentum against her, Number 105 slugged Musubi right in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of her. Another punch sent her stumbling back.

The Red Sekirei was too late to stop Kazehana, though. The curvaceous locked lips with her Ashikabi and her wings bloomed from her crest.

"Winds of my pledge, blow away the dark clouds surrounding my Ashikabi!" she called, a hurricane erupting to life around her. The wind peeled Haihane off of the bridge and sent her flying into the water. Benitsubasa, while not the direct target, was no less tossed aside but managed to dig her fingers into the side bracings. This kept her firmly in place while Haihane was learning how to breathe underwater.

"My turn!" Musubi said, running towards her Ashikabi. She was thankful for Kazehana's unintended help and just as eager to use her _norito_.

"Musubi, watch out!" Minato yelled.

Musubi had just enough time to dodge Benitsubasa's attack, but the attack wasn't a direct one. Musubi felt the metal beneath her once again giving out, managing to leap to safety. The Red Sekirei was on her in an instant, lashing out with a flurry of blows. Musubi tried to disengage, wanting to feel her Ashikabi's love empower her body, but her opponent wasn't giving her an inch.

Finally, Musubi overextended herself with one attempted counter-strike and Benitsubasa smashed her in the face with a vicious haymaker. Musubi spun from the blow, another sending her sprawling. Minato could only watch helplessly as Benitsubasa drove a fist straight into the small of Musubi's back. Musubi's eyes widened with pain, staring straight into Minato's, before her head lowered and her eyelids slid shut. Her Sekirei crest dissolved on her back, and Minato felt something inside him flicker out.

" _MUSUBI!_ " Tears began to stream from his eyes as he sped to where his fallen Sekirei lay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi, afraid to provoke the other spectator by fleeing, now felt Karasuba's bloodthirsty eyes upon her.

"Then again…" Karasuba murmured, slowly unsheathing her sword.


	25. Dream of Mirrors

Tsukiumi's fear took hold of her and she sent a torrent of water at the Black Sekirei. Karasuba sliced it to droplets with her sword before charging in. Tsukiumi conjured a liquid wall, but it, too, fell before The Black Sekirei's fury. However, it had obstructed her vision long enough to allow Tsukiumi to flee. Karasuba would not be deterred, however, as her bloodthirst would not be left unsatiated.

As the battle on the bridge ebbed, Number 9 and Number 4 fought in the skyline of the night. Number 9 was constantly giving ground, but with each new rooftop visited, Number 4's onslaught drew ever closer...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _Man_ , she was annoying," Benitsubasa growled. "Who keeps smiling after they've been punched?"

"She probably won't be smiling much anymore," came Haihane's voice.

"So glad you could make it back, Haihane," Benitsubasa said sarcastically, seeing that her partner, now soaking wet, had clawed her way up one of the concrete bridge supports. "How's the water?"

"Just right for doing laundry," Haihane replied, smirking.

"'Laundry'?" The Red Sekirei was puzzled by her partner's critique.

"Why not? You brought a washboard," Haihane jested, pointing at a certain area between Benitsubasa's heck and abdomen. At this, Number 105 started fume, but then the ditz's Ashikabi broke from where he stood and raced to her fallen form.

" _MUSUBI!_ " He took her up in his arms and buried his face in her shoulder. His tears trickled down the side of her arm.

"Minato!" Number 3 chased after him, caught off-guard by his sudden break.

Unfortunately for Kazehana, the use of her norito had left her powers drained. As such, when Haihane leapt up into the air and sliced at the trusses above her, Kazehana's winds were only enough to stop _most_ of them from coming down on her. She fell, pinned under solid metal, as Haihane pushed off one of the newly-made stumps and landed in front of Kuno and Shigi.

"Sahashi-san!" the other Ashikabi cried.

"I'd worry more for yourselves," she said to the would-be elopers, "but don't let _that_ stop you."

Shigi shoved Kuno back as The Blue Sekirei swept her claws towards the two of them. The talons tore bloody gashes into chest and he felt, his white shirt turning red.

"Shigi!" Kuno cried. She saw her Ashikabi's broken form lying before her, coughing as the crimson stain spread further. For the first time, Kuno found her resolve. She wasn't going to run anymore, or cry anymore. Not tonight, not when her Ashikabi's life was on the line.

She sank to her knees, peering down at her Ashikabi's upside-down face, and gently brought her lips to his. Golden wings of light unfurled from her back, and she spoke.

" _Song of my pact, light the path of my Ashikabi!_ "

A heavenly sound flowed from Kuno's lips, so potent that it shone with her aurelian light. It washed over everyone present, friend and foe alike. Their worries, cares, fears all started to evaporate.

"My strength…" Haihane said sleepily. "What a nice song…"

"Keep it together Haihane!" Benitsubasa snapped, feeling her own vigor sliding away. "We're the Discipline Squad! ... And…"

"Like it? This is Kuno's ultimate attack, 'The Mellow Melody'," Shigi coughed, sitting up.

Kazehana, still struggling to unpin herself, wondered why she wasn't also caught up in the song's effect. She knew this was so because Minato was still a lot closer to the Discipline Squad than she would have liked, and it was still making her heart quake with dread.

Plant life began to slither its way around the captive audience, sliding around Minato and pulling on the girders that lay on top of Kazehana. They began to drag Minato away as the Discipline Squad members' eyes started to slide shut. The girders started to shift, though Kazehana remained trapped.

Then Kuno's song halted as she coughed up blood and fell beside her Ashikabi, who had recovered enough to sit up.

"Kuno!" Shigi lifted her head in his arm. "Why did you use that much power if you knew it would do this to you?"

"Because… I wanted to be useful," she murmured. Shigi smiled at this.

"You're hopeless," he murmured, hugging her close. "But you're _my_ kind of hopeless."

"Jealous much, Red?" Haihane teased.

" _Shut up, Haihane!_ " The Red Sekirei snapped. Haihane just giggled, always getting a kick out of pushing that particular button. The vines grasping at Minato and the girders were suddenly reduced to diced chunks as the Discipline Squad collected itself. Another slash of Haihane's bladed hands and Kazehana's freedom was out of her reach as she stared up at her executioner.

Benitsubasa's ire turned to the Ashikabi in front of her, cradling the fallen Number 88 in a way she knew Natsuo would never do to her. It just pissed her off more.

"Don't you get it? Her Sekirei crest is gone," she said, yanking the kid off of his Sekirei's husk and grasping him by his shirt collar. " _She's_ gone."

Kusano was whimpering where her Ashikabi had left her. She didn't know what to do. The plants that she could summon would only be cut down by the Blue Sekirei, and then what? Minato and Kuno-san and Shigi-san and even her big sister Kazehana were about to die, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Her big brother blinked through his tears, his eyes never leaving Musubi's fallen form.

"I'm sorry, Musubi. I'm just no good after all…"

"You got that right," The Red Sekirei sneered. She sent her fist at Minato's face, all of her rage concentrated into a single strike.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi nearly slipped as she touched down. Her white underskirt had been torn and blood trickled down her back from a wound about her shoulder blades. More gashes lines her arms, the crimson drizzle tainting the waters of her weapons. Her summoned shield in hand, she attempted to stand her ground as Karasuba's blade came screaming down at her. She nearly crumpled under the force of the blow, her shield threatening to lose its coalescence. It began to thrash about, protesting under the enormous power that was being applied to it, jittering around as gobs of liquid began to slosh free It was as if the water itself feared The Black Sekirei.

Seeing what was about to happen, she pulled her arm back and darted backwards, the sword passing through the water and biting into the stone beneath. She threw up another wall of water, but Karasuba thrush her blade straight through it, lancing the tip into Tsukiumi's shoulder. Thankfully, it missed the bone, though Tsukiumi's left arm now hung limp at her side. She was slowly starting to accept her fate, but completely unwilling to embrace it. She reasoned that, if nothing else, she would give the Black Sekirei a fight to remember. 'Twas not a fight that she expected to last much longer, not unless a miracle occurred.

As if in answer to her prayer, Karasuba stopped her coup de grace as something from the bridge caught her eye. Number 04's face split into a terrifying grin, ear to ear, as she nodded towards Tsukiumi.

"Thanks for the warm-up, Nine." Karasuba saluted Tsukiumi with the pommel of her sword and took off.

Tsukiumi sank to her hands and knees, feeling every wound the Black Sekirei had dealt her. She forced herself to stay awake, to remain in the world of the living and not succumb to her injury, but she toppled sideways nonetheless.

Through blurred vision, she saw a shape leap up and land on the ledge in front of her. It loomed over her, its eyes piercing the night.

"You know," it said, folding its arm, "I never got you back for for that 'vile Ashikabi' bit…"

Tsukiumi's eyes slid shut as the last of her strength left her. As the darkness closed in, she felt a giant hand reach under her neck, sliding down her back to where her Sekirei crest would be…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Minato was enveloped by a vision of Musubi's body, floating beneath the calm, clear ocean. A voice resonated throughout; it sounded like Musubi, but older, more mature.

 _Love... That is your task. Please, teach love to_ all _the little birds._

A pair of yellow eyes pierced the calm and invaded the vision. Minato heard a different voice, this one a man's, wispy like smoke yet a full octave deeper than his own.

 _Ooooh, is that right?_ They slurred their words like a predator licking its lips.

No time for pondering as Minato was brought screaming back to reality.

All of the power had left Benitsubasa's hand as it neared Minato. The blow still hurt something fierce, but she was too distracted by the blinding light emanating from Number 88's fallen form. Pink wings of light erupted from Musubi's back, her Sekirei crest actually _reforming_ where it had vanished.

"Mu-Musubi?" Minato stammered. He thought he might be seeing things from being hit in the face by an angry fist.

Musubi's lifeless husk floated up from the concrete, exactly as Minato had seen it in the vision. Her belly shimmered and a wide Sekirei crest formed beneath her breasts, just above a stylized "08". Her eyes snapped open, a raging inferno of fierce determination entering them.

"Those who would stand in the way of love…" she said, placing a hand over her exposed breasts. "I, the Sekirei of Fate, Number 08, Yume, will be your opponent!"

The gathered combatants all blinked. " _Who?_ " they asked in unison.


	26. Twist of Fate

Benitsubasa was the first to recover herself.

"Geez, I must've hit you harder than I thought…"

"Quiet!" Musubi snapped, or Yume or whoever she was. "Since when has the Discipline Squad sunk to bullying Sekirei? You're supposed to be _protecting_ the little birds, helping to keep them safe while they find their destined ones! As your senior, I will _not_ tolerate this."

The Red Sekirei grimaced at this and darted back, positioning herself next to her teammate. Who did this loose screw think she was?

"Just try it, Benitsubasa snarled. "Beating you down will be even better the second time." Haihane was no less rearing to go, the two flying at the revitalized Sekirei.

This turned out to be a mistake. "Yume" curled the fingers of her free hand into an open-palm and light gathered itself into a sphere. She thrust her hand forward, unleashing her Photonic energies in a devastating pink beam. The column of light caught Numbers 104 and 105 head-on, the wind from the blast blowing away the steel girders pinning down Kazehana.

The Wind Sekirei, for a moment, lay in awe at the display before her. She'd heard of the amazing level of power that the late Number 8 had packed, but to see it in action was really something else.

Then, realizing that the two enemy Sekirei were now sailing overhead, Kazehana took the opportunity to soar to Minato, stumbling a bit on her landing. Her Ashikabi clumsily reached out to steady her, though he put his hand a little too low for her liking. Kazehana placed it on her breast, feeling some of her energy return to her from the bond they shared, flashing a weary smile at Minato as he tried to sputter an embarrassed retort. For her part, Kazehana was glad to be once again between her lover and her foes.

When the afterglow of the light faded, the two enemy Sekirei lay on the ground, spots floating in front of their eyes. Kusano, overcoming her own fear, ran over to her older siblings. She completely overlooked Kazehana's display and hugged Minato's leg, tearfully eying the enemy and waiting for them to come again. But looking at the fallen Discipline Squad, her eyes began to sparkle in admiration at the tough lady who'd taught them a lesson. Served them right for being so nasty.

"Urgh... What was that _?_ " Haihane asked groggily, looking up at the nearly nude woman standing over her. "Who are you?"

"MBI Affiliate, Guardian of the S Plan, Chief of the Discipline Squad, Sekirei of Fate, Number 08, Yume," came the long-winded reply. She reached down and grasped each opponent by the ankle, hoisting them upside down into the air. "You two need more love in your hearts. Without it, you'll never be strong."

With that, Number 08 spun around and flung the screaming forms of 104 and 105 far up the river, out of sight and out of mind. The others could only gawk at her, having so casually dispatched the two that had given them so much trouble. Yume then turned to the assembled group, her hands back to covering her breasts.

She sighed dreamily, closing her eyes and lifting her head high. "The care-free affection for friends, the intimate bond between lovers, the ironclad devotion of partners, but most of all…"

She strode forward, placing a hand on Minato's face.

"Your feelings for Musubi, the love pouring out of your heart…"

She reached around and guided his head to her bosom, a gesture that made both Kazehana and Kusano just a little bit jealous. Kazehana managed to keep it under wraps, whereas Kusano's reddened nose had puffs of steam coming out.

"That's what I felt, even the way I was," Yume continued. "Musubi couldn't have chosen a more wonderful person to be with."

Minato felt at ease, being held like this. He knew it wasn't Musubi who clutched him to her chest, but despite the amazing power she'd just displayed, there was something calming about Yume's aura. It reached down and pulled at his very soul. It reassured him that everything was going to be okay, not just with the escape plan, but with the rest of his life. He could drift away on this feeling. It was like floating on a soft cloud, high in the sky, not a care in the world.

"Yume-san..." Minato asked, his question muffled somewhat by her boobs. "What was that vision I had?"

Yume looked down at her de facto Ashikabi, smiling warmly. "Of me?"

"No, the one right before you- before _we_ woke up."

He was about to go further into detail, but just then, a chill settled on the bridge. From the darkness of the riverbank, where the bridge joined the city, came a black silhouette. It already had its sword drawn, hungry to taste blood.

"I was hoping you'd show up, Yume," Karasuba said. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you."

"Karasuba," Yume replied cordially. "You're looking well."

"Oh, I'm better than well _._ "

Her sword angled up and pointed at Yume's heart. Screaming Yume's name like the hunting dog baying at the fox, Karasuba flew at her old teammate, Minato being roughly passed to Kazehana as The Sekirei of Fate cleared the way for her opponent.

"Karasuba," Yume said, ducking and weaving around the deadly web of steel, "I'm not going to fight you."

Karasuba's overhead slash was guided away by the back of Yume's gloved hand, steering it clear of her body without leaving so much as a nick on the red leather.

"I leave that to-"

Karasuba stopped her blade a hair's breadth from Yume's neck. Just like that, the calming aura was gone.

"Karasuba-sama? When did you get here?" Musubi asked, confused. She put a finger to her lip, apparently forgetting about her lack of a shirt. "The last thing I remember was being downed by Number 105, and then… Huh…"

Karasuba stepped back. "You need to keep training," she said, sheathing her sword. "If someone like Benitsubasa was able to beat you, then you'll never make it to the final match."

"I will!" Musubi exclaimed, clenching her fist. "I'm not going to lose to anyone, never again!"

"That's the spirit," The Black Sekirei murmured, turning to leave and making no motion towards the two would-be escapees. Satisfied yet not, Karasuba leapt off. Woe be to any unfortunate enough to cross paths with her this night.

Minato and the others were just as surprised as when Yume first "awakened". But questions about numbers had to wait, because Matsu had some bad news for everyone.

"Minato!" The Wisdom Sekirei's voice barked over earpiece. "I just lost control of the satellites! They're aligning themselves to fire on the bridge!"

"Looks like it's now or never, you two!" Minato said, helping Shigi and Kuno to their feet.

"But the bridge is out! We can't make a jump like that!" Kuno whimpered.

"I could throw you across," Musubi suggested. Her offer was hastily but politely declined.

"I'll give you a lift, as best I can," Kazehana said, pushing herself away from Minato, both he and little Ku helping to steady her.

The elopers looked at each other, and then nodded. A fall into the river was worth the risk if it meant freedom.

"Ready?" Kazehana asked. Shigi and Kuno nodded. The two began running towards the fifteen-meter gap in the bridge, putting every last ounce of energy into their last mad dash for freedom. They made the jump, and felt the winds lift them up as they soared across the chasm.

But Kazehana was still weak. Shigi and Kuno's flight was cut short as they began to fall, Kazehana struggling to keep them afloat. It seemed gravity was once again intent on stopping a bird from taking flight.

But then, from under the bridge, a pair of white tendrils wrapped themselves around the pair, lifting them and flinging them across the gap. Kazehana's efforts shifted to slowing their descent, which she was able to do enough so that they merely stumbled forward upon landing.

No one was looking her way, but Kazehana was grinning, ever so slightly.

"Sahashi-san!" Shigi called. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"I can't!" Minato called back. "There's something I still have to do here! I don't know what it is, exactly, but I have a feeling that only I can do it!"

"Well, then, good luck!" Shigi called, taking off at full-tilt across the remainder of the bridge just as the satellite's laser reached the ground. It blinded everyone in its presence with it ray, but when their sight returned, they could see that Kuno and Shigi had made it safely to terra firma. At last, beyond MBI's reach, beyond the chaos of the Sekirei Plan, they were finally free.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Minato and his Sekirei limped home, they spied a familiar gi-clad slab waiting for them on the sidewalk. He had the unconscious form of Number 9, Tsukiumi, slung over his shoulder. Kazehana recognized him immediately, for having one's hangover beaten to death by an angry fist of yelling made for a memorable first encounter.

"Well, Izanagi and me couldn't just up and leave, could we?" he said. "I was ready to jump in and help when..." He trailed off and frowned. "What happened out there, anyway?"

"It's a long story," Kazehana said. Ku nodded in agreement, though she had no idea what had transpired herself.

Minato, for one, was more focused on the blonde woman Kagedansu was carrying.

"What happened to Tsukiumi?" he asked.

"From what I could tell, she was jumped by The Black Sekirei," Kagedansu said. "I found her just after the fight ended. Passed out right as I got to her."

"You didn't want to fight her?" Musubi asked. Minato was tempted to nudge his Sekirei and remind her that they still wanted Tsukiumi to join them, they were in no condition to fight should Kagedansu want payback for his skirmish with her, and they really shouldn't give him any ideas. Fortunately, The Shadow Sekirei shook his head.

"And miss the look on her face when she finally caves and wings herself on this kid?" Kagedansu replied, nodding at Minato. "Not a chance."

"Minato's not a kid!" Musubi yelled. "He's a wonderful, kind person-"

"Easy, Musubi!" Minato interjected, stepping between the two.

Izanagi remained silent on the matter, as per usual.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they neared the inn, Matsu was waiting at the front door, too anxious to worry about being seen.

"Who's that?" Kagedansu asked.

"Minato! Guys! You're all back!" Matsu shouted. "When I saw all the troop movements, I was-"

Matsu was interrupted as Minato, having found a hidden reserve of energy, let go of Kusano's tiny hand, raced up to the front door, and planted a kiss on her lips, hugging her tightly to him. Matsu was completely caught off-guard by this, as was everyone else.

"Well, that's one way to explain it," Izanagi mumbled, drawing a chortle from his Sekirei.

Matsu was too caught up in Minato's wanton display of affection to hear, her golden wings lighting up the hallway as she leaned into her Ashikabi. The only way this could get better was if their clothes spontaneously exploded into confetti.

"We couldn't have done it without you, Matsu," Minato said, releasing her and looking into her eyes. "Thank you."

"Sure," Matsu said woozily, readjusting her glasses. "No problem."

Upon seeing the green-eyed reception Minato's other Sekirei were giving him, the two brothers tried to repress their rising snickers. Only Izanagi was successful.

"Minato, I'm hurt!" Kazehana groaned, swooning against his back. "Won't you take care of me?"

"I need attention, too!" Musubi said, claiming one of his arms.

"Big brother?" Kusano asked, clutching his leg and looking up at him.

Minato tried in vain to disentangle himself but his Sekirei were having none of it, further delaying their treatment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi awoke in a strange place. A window in a simple room showed her the sunlight, so it was at the very least the next morning. She was in loose-fitting blue pajamas, her dress hung up beside the bedroll she lay upon. She sat up, and right away felt wrappings constrict themselves around her wounded flesh. Someone had bandaged her up, apparently. And stripped her nude to do so. She had a feeling, from the heat rising within her, who it was.

A woman with purple hair opened the door, right when Tsukiumi was in the middle of grinding her teeth.

"Where am I?" she demanded. "That Ashikabi! Did he violate me whilst I slept?!"

"Quite the opposite," the purple-haired woman said. "My tenant was kind enough to carry you up here and tend to your wounds."

 _Tenant_ , Tsukumi thought. _If she is_ _Sahashi-san's landlady, then I am at a place of rest_ _._

"He said," the woman continued, "'If anyone's going to make Tsukiumi mad at them, it might as well be me'."

Tsukiumi was a little taken aback by this, and the purple-haired woman chuckled.

"Why, Tsukiumi-san, I do believe you're blushing."

Composing herself, The Water Sekirei got up, feeling the tug of her bandages on her flesh.

"If thou wouldst not mind, I wish to return to the outside," she said, turning her back to the woman.

"That's fine, Tsukiumi-san," the landlady said as she slid the door closed. "Just know that I have a room here if you change your mind about Minato."

The woman slid the door shut behind her as Tsukiumi began to undress, her mind occupied by other things.

 _Again he attempts to woo me. Thou art truly tenacious, Sahashi Minato._

Finally clothed, her attire mysteriously free of sword-cuts, Tsukiumi made her way down the hall, down the steps, and out the front door. As it happened, she ran into Minato on her way out.

"Tsukiumi-san," he said pleasantly. "Glad to see you're back on your feet."

"I am fine," Tsukiumi said, not once breaking her stride. "Thou shouldst concern thyself with thine own Sekirei."

Minato then watched the literal woman of his dreams leave him once again.

As she soared through the air, The Water Sekirei placed a hand to her bosom. His strategy for wooing her appeared to be working, because the heat had started up again. Nevertheless, a chance of fate was not about to decide her course. Tsukiumi refused to accept Minato as anything but an ape with good manners, not until he proved he was more than that.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

I got finals to do, which are a lot more time-consuming for me since I'm an animation student. Writing this has been eating into my valuable time and I'm afraid I'll have to swear off of it until the middle of May (that's May of 2016, people of the future).

In the meantime, how about showing your love and adoration (or lack thereof) by posting a review? I'll be sailing into dark waters, without the anime for a road map. And I know that someday I'll be leaving the manga behind, too. So the more feedback I get, the better I can make the story, and the less angry you'll all get when I inevitably change course. Please, look for mistakes, errors, even nitpicks, **_anything_** that I could improve upon.

Don't worry, I'm not about to go all self-insert and write some guy who's totally good at everything that solves the plot for everyone. I hate that stuff.


	27. The Ties That Bind

**Author's note** :

And I'm back! Now I just have to get over my writer's block so we can get to all the good things. One of them is Tsukiumi, another is her winging, and then comes the main event.

* * *

"Sahashi-san! You have a visitor!"

Miya's voice reached Minato as he finished watering a flower pot. Thinking of no one who could possibly want to see him (aside from his Sekirei, of course), he handed the hose to Kusano. As she and Musubi began playfully spraying each other, Minato made his way around to the front. The image of Musubi in a bikini remained etched into his brain, but he was in no hurry to force it out.

His lovely daydream was shattered, however, when he came to the front and found another woman there. She was dressed in a white lab coat and work pants, an eyepatch covering her left eye. The strap made her unkempt grey hair cling to her head, and she was still as unnervingly stoic as ever.

"Hello, Minato," she said simply.

The ronin scrunched his eyes shut and then opened them again. Nope, she was still there, to his confusion.

"Mom?" Minato asked. "What are you doing here?"

At that moment, Kazehana walked in, having finished quaffing her sake and in need of a new bottle. She was smiling as usual, though her walking in a straight line meant that she hadn't consumed enough booze for her liking.

"Hello, Takami," she said. Her smile remained, but all the warmth had evaporated from it.

"Hello, Kazehana. I take it my son is treating you well?"

" _Very,_ " The Wind Sekirei responded, her eyes like beautiful daggers.

"Good to hear. Though, if you don't mind, Kazehana, I'd like to speak to my son _alone_." Takami emphasized the last word particularly.

"Fine by me," Kazehana said, walking over to Minato and pulling his face into a passionate kiss. Her wings lit the room with their brilliance, larger and brighter than ever before. She lingered for a moment, until Minato broke from her embrace, sensing ulterior motives.

"Please, Kazehana," he said. "Now's not the time."

"Then don't be long, Minato-kun!" Kazehana sang as she walked out, her good mood having been restored. "We haven't had a chance to celebrate yet."

His mother sat down, not at all shocked by what she had just witnessed. Minato deduced the reason immediately.

"Mom, how do you know about the Sekirei plan?"

"That's one of the things I came to talk to you about. Remember how I always told you I worked for a pharmaceutical company?"

"Of course I do," Minato responded, annoyed by his mother's lack of faith in his memory.

"Well, that's not entirely true. The pharmaceutical company I work for is actually a department at MBI."

" _MBI?!"_ he Minato's mother simply nodded as her son recomposed himself. "So you knew about the Sekirei Plan all along?"

"That's right. In fact, I'm the one in charge of managing the Plan and tracking the battle results," Sahashi Takami said, "among other things."

A subtle leer appeared on Minato's face, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly in reflection of a dark thought he just had. "Were you the one who ordered the Discipline Squad to attack us last night?"

"No, that was Minaka's doing. He had MBI's spy satellites track your movements from the moment you met with those two Ashikabi. Once he figured out where you were going, he sent the Squad."

Minato breathed a sigh of relief, the dark cloud over his thoughts vanishing. In the kitchen, Kazehana felt like she'd been neglecting something, though what it was, she couldn't say.

"On the subject of the bridge escapade," Takami continued, "I came to ask you about that. You're _sure_ that Number 88 was deactivated that night?"

"She has a name you know, Mom," Minato mumbled.

" _Answer the question, Minato_ ," his mother ordered.

"Yes ma'am! I mean, Mom! I mean-" Minato halted and got a grip on himself. Seems his mother was still the same old ironclad woman that had terrified him as a child.

His mind flashed back to the previous night, where he held Musubi's lifeless body in his arms, watching as Kazehana was crushed under a mountain of steel and Shigi-san took a bloody wound to the chest. With the images came all the fear, the despair, the pain, and anguish. It was a concoction he hoped never to feel again, no matter what it took to stave off.

"I remember it clear as day. Musubi got hit hard by that pink-haired girl, Number, uhm... 105? I think? But, yeah, she wasn't getting up. Her symbol vanished off of her back, and… I can't explain it, but I felt something when it disappeared: this feeling, like I knew her crest had vanished, even though I never got a good look at it. But then something weird happened."

"'Something weird'?" Takami repeated. "What kind of 'weird'?"

Minato began scratching his head, "Well, best I can tell, I had a vision of Musubi's body floating in the ocean, and a woman's voice spoke to me. She said something about teaching love to the Sekirei. And then, just before I woke up, or whatever you call it, I saw a pair of yellow eyes and heard a man's voice... At least, I think it was a man's voice."

"Hmmm…" Takami pondered.

"Sound familiar, Mom? Ku's been having nightmares ever since I found her. She says she keeps seeing yellow eyes, and they talk to her."

She shook her head. "It's probably just a coincidence. Continue."

"Well, anyway, Musubi lifted off the ground and her Sekirei crest reformed itself. Then another one formed over her stomach, a really big one, with a '08' just below it."

Takami's eyes widened at this. " _Number 8? Yume?_ "

"Yup, that's what she called herself. That mean anything to you, Mom?"

Takami recovered herself. "Number 8 is a deceased Sekirei. She and Musubi have some personal history together. She was an abnormal Sekirei, incapable of being winged due to her 'complete' core, but _this_ phenomena is unheard of."

She then looked at her son. "Regardless, I urge you not to do something like that again. The Director may be eccentric, but he takes the Plan _very_ seriously. If he feels that anyone's actions jeopardize it, he won't hesitate to sick the Discipline Squad on them."

"Why don't you do something about it then?"

"I _am_ doing something about it. It's why I've stayed with Minaka ever since we first discovered the Sekirei."

Takami got up.

"So do your best to win. You can start by winging Number 9, since she's already reacted to you."

"Yes, mother." The way she phrased it, Minato's insecure male mind heard it as his mother badgering him to get a girlfriend. Never mind that he already had several.

"Oh, by the way," his mother said, "congratulations on passing your entrance exam. I'm sure Yukari will be thrilled."

Two questions rose to the fore: how did she know that he passed and what did his sister have to do with it? However, since neither could achieve victory in the two-thirds-of-a-second it took to respond, all Minato said was, "Wah?"

"Your sister enrolled at Tokyo U, and passed her entrance exams as well," Takami said. "You two will be seeing a lot more of each other when the semester begins."

Minato sat there, with a due sense of exhaustion and dread. His mother had taken all of the new women in his life rather well, but how was he going to explain them to Yukari? She could see her even now, a look of abject disgust and horror on her face.

" _You're sleeping with_ how _many women?_ " her visage asked. " _My own brother a polygamist? You disgust me!"_

"And since you've finally passed," Takami continued, shattering the vision, "I'll be bumping up your allowance. I'm very proud of you, Minato, and I hope you do well in your studies."

With that, his mother departed. Minato sat on the couch, a tornado of emotions spiraling within him. He was glad he passed the exam, but it meant an encounter with Yukari was inevitable. The bridge escape had been a success, but now Minato was on some kind of MBI watch list. His mother was in on the plan, but she seemed in no hurry to provide anything for her son aside from encouragement. Tipping the balance in his favor was the thought of a boosted bank account.

To resolve his anxieties, Minato rose from the couch and walked into the kitchen, where his first Sekirei had gone.

"Say, Kazehana?" She perked up at his call. "What exactly are we celebrating?"

"A successful elopement, of course!" Kazehana said cheerily. "Let's get everyone together and _party on_!"

"You really think it's worth it?" Minato asked. Her eyelids drooped and she gazed at him like the cat that caught the canary.

"Among other things," she purred.

Minato suddenly found himself on the floor, Kazehana on top of him with her lips pressed to his. A shiver crept down their backs, forcing them out of the moment.

"Kazehana," the hanyo with the broom said, "While I allow wanton displays of affection at my inn, yours is straying very close to lewdness."

"You're no fun at all, you know that, Miya?" This earned the Wind Sekirei a whack on the head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato managed to convince Kazehana to hold off on partying right away. After last evening's events, he'd had enough excitement for one week. And since school wasn't due to start for a long while, that left him with plenty of free time to unwind, relax, maybe even follow his mother's advice and seek Tsukiumi out.

Still, Kazehana was nothing if not _very_ persuasive, and soon Minato found himself agreeing to ask Miya about a few days down the line.

The Wind Sekirei, meanwhile, roamed the Inn, looking for her friend and rival. She had a feeling Uzume wasn't about, but it never hurt to look. And she had more than enough sake, if her search proved fruitless.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You look happy, Uzume," the diminutive girl in the hospital bed said.

"Well, yesterday was a good day," Uzume replied, smiling brighter.

"Tell me about it," Chiho said.

"Well, there was this big fight on the bridge." Uzume's said. "Minato and his Sekirei were helping these other two escape, a Sekirei and an Ashikabi trying to run from the Plan."

"He's the one you told me about: Minato?"

"Yeah," Uzume said. "I really wish you could meet him. He's such a nice guy, even if he's a wet noodle around us girls."

Chiho's smile widened at this, adopting a wryness.

"It was tough. Musubi was terminated, Kaze-nee was buried under a mountain of rubble, and it pretty much looked like everything had gone completely wrong.

"Until?" Chiho said, anxious to hear the part where the tables turned and everyone had a happy ending.

"Until a bright light came and this really strong Sekirei showed up. One of the single numbers, Number 8, Yume. She tossed the Squad all the way across the river." Uzume chuckled. "You should've seen the way they flew. It was hilarious."

"Did you do anything to help?"

"Yeah," the Sekirei nodded. "I guess I did. Not much, but I wasn't benched for the _whole_ thing."

"That's wonderful, Uzume." Chiho reached out towards her Sekirei. Uzume gently took her Ashikabi's hand and pressed it to her face, feeling the warmth of their bond. "I'm glad you were able to help someone in need."

Uzume felt herself shrivel a little inside. _If Chiho knew the truth…_

"Hey, Uzume? Do you have anyone else besides me? You know, someone you know well?"

"Me? Well… There're my housemates; they're always fun to be around."

"No, I mean…" A hint of mischief entered Chiho's tone. "Someone you know _that_ well."

Uzume's face turned as red as a tomato. "N-No! Not like _that!_ "

"Come on, Uzume," Chiho pressured. "I know you're hiding something from me."

Within, Number 10 started panicking. Had Chiho found out about her nightly escapades? Had their bond alerted her to Uzume's foul play as The Veiled Sekirei?

"What's his name?"

Uzume stopped herself from sighing in relief. Chiho remained blessedly ignorant after all.

"Really, Chiho, you're all I could ever want," Uzume said, leaning down and kissing her Ashikabi on the lips. Her wings, white as doves, splayed out from her Sekirei crest. Uzume felt the familiar heat within her, wrapping itself around each of her limbs and clinging to her tight. This was Chiho's doing, and it was something no one else could give her.

The girls broke from their kiss and Chiho lovingly looked up at her Sekirei's smiling face.

"You don't know how happy that makes me feel, Uzume," Chiho said. "But what if you want children of your own? What if you want to raise a family?"

"Well, if you're going to think _that_ far ahead, Chiho-chan, we could always adopt."

Uzume seemed to drift off at this. Chiho sensed her discontent and was quick to address it.

"All right. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you."

Chiho placed her hand on Uzume's face again, and once again Uzume silently reveled in her Ashikabi's touch.

"But you really should try and find someone else, at least to spend time with. No one can have just one person in their life, Uzume."

Uzume nodded. "I will, Chiho."

With that, Uzume walked out the door, leaving her Ashikabi alone once more. As she exited the hospital, she saw a man in cobalt-colored business attire sitting on the bench outside.

"You were ordered to terminate 95, and you aided in her escape. Did you think we wouldn't find out, Number 10?"

"I figured that it would accomplish the same thing." Uzume said. "What difference does it make if she's dead or not as long as she's out of the game?"

"That's not your call to make," the man said. "You'll do what Higa-san tells you to do, if you want your Ashikabi to remain, shall we say, 'healthy'."

Gritting her teeth, Uzume growled an "Alright" at Higa's lackey, and took off across the city. She needed something to take the edge off, and fast.


	28. A Foul Plot Afoot

"So, you get a job yet?" the old woman asked Izanagi, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. Izanagi shooed her hand away with his own. His grandmother could be so fussy about the tiniest things.

"No, grandma-sama," Izanagi replied, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Agh! What am I going to do with you, Iza-kun?" she asked. "And take your hands out of your pockets."

Rolling his eyes, Izanagi obeyed.

"Have you been _looking_ for a job?"

"Yeah, but…" He wasn't sure how exactly he was going to word this.

"But what? _Speak up!_ " she barked.

"I have… a new roommate."

"A new roommate," The old bat repeated. "Does _he_ have a job?"

"No, but-" Izanagi stopped. Now that he thought about it, Kagedansu really hadn't explained how he'd kept himself fed, or why he was always offering to pay the tab whenever they ate together. Yet, somehow, his Sekirei always seemed to have money on him. "He makes ends met."

"Well, then consider him incentive for _you_ to get one. I pay for your apartment, but my wallet's not bottomless, you know. I want to make sure my only next of kin is settled before I go," his grandmother said. "Speaking of which…"

 _Oh, no…_ Izanagi groaned silently.

" _When are you going to find yourself a wife?!_ "

Izanagi had heard this conversation enough to recite both sides of it from memory. "Goodbye, grandma-sama," Izanagi said.

"You'd better get one soon, grandson! I'm not getting any younger!" she hollered at him.

Izanagi couldn't help but chortle. His grandmother was pushing ninety years old and yet no one would ever guess her health was on the decline, not from the way she acted. Still, now that he was free of her nagging, he could finally put his shades back on. He wore them so much that he felt naked without them.

As he passed a room in the hospital, he heard the sound of a plastic cup falling down, spilling its contents on the floor. He peeked inside the door next to him and saw a young girl, at most two years younger than him, lowering her hand to her hospital bed. There lay the cup, beneath her bed, its clear contents slowly spreading in a puddle on the tile.

Without saying a word or even knocking, Izanagi strolled in and picked up the clear plastic vessel. The girl looked at him, tired and lonely, as he wiped it off with a napkin from the side-table. He then took the pitcher of water next to the napkins and poured her a new glass, handing it to her and making sure she had a firm grip on it before letting go. The girl weakly raised the glass to her lips and drank, a small amount dribbling past her lip as she did so.

Lowering the glass, she saw that Izanagi was already offering her another napkin, still expressionless. Exchanging it for her empty glass, she wiped away the trickle of liquid flowing down her cheek. Izanagi set the glass down and began to make his exit.

"Please…" the girl murmured. "Can you stay with me a little longer?"

Izanagi stopped. Now _there_ was a voice that he couldn't say no to.

"Alright," he said, turning back. "My brother will be going to pieces, but he'll cope somehow."

"I appreciate it," the girl said. "What's your name, sir?"

"Musashibo Izanagi," he said, pulling up a chair. "You?"

"Hidaka Chiho."

He sat down. "You get many visitors, Chiho-san?"

"Not really," she replied softly. "After my parents died, the only ones who came to see me were the real estate people. They said they'd visit me, but they didn't actually mean it. Once they sold my house, they never came again."

Chiho's head drooped a little. "I was alone for so long."

"Until?"

"Until I met… My big sister. Now I have a visitor every day. But... she always seems a little sad." Chiho sighed. "I just wish she would talk to me about it."

"Rough," remarked the boy. A thought occurred to him. "If you don't mind, what exactly do you mean by 'met' her?"

"I don't mind at all," said Chiho, smiling at him. "We're not actually related by blood, but she cares for me and I love her with all my heart. I just feel like there are things she isn't telling me. I can't say how, exactly," Chiho paused at this, like there was something she wanted to confess to him, then continued, "But I just _know_ something's not right."

"Sounds better than my brother. He's a great guy, but I can't leave him alone for ten minutes before he starts-"

Izanagi's phone buzzed with a message. He opened it.

"Aaand there it is," he rumbled. He showed the message to Chiho. The screen said, "IZA-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU TEXT ME IF YOU'RE NOT DEAD"

A mouthful of air burst from Chiho's lips, causing her whole body to rock. "You're right, he _is_ worse than my sister," the girl laughed, weak as she was. "How old is he?"

"Don't know," Izanagi replied, typing a response. "Older than I am, that's for sure." Once again he displayed his phone's screen for Chiho. It read, "I'll call you when I get to Vallhalla."

"What's "Vu-aruhara'?" she asked as he sent the message.

"The Scandinavian afterlife, reserved for people who die in battle."

Chiho chuckled at this. "You're terrible."

"Yes I am," he replied matter-of-factly, though the slight upturning of the corner of his mouth gave him away.

"Bad enough you forget how old he is," Chiho said.

"I didn't forget his age. Never knew it. See, he's not really _my_ brother, either."

Chiho laid her head back on her pillow and gazed at the ceiling. "It's a funny world we live in, isn't it?"

"Yeah," was all the reply she got. Because unbeknownst to one another, a thought started to form in their heads, about who they were talking to, and who these mysterious siblings could be. Also running parallel was that neither of them had any inklings about fighting, or winning plans, or pulling one over on the other. The wheels in their heads turned as each Ashikabi considered the possibility, and about the things they'd said to one another prior to this suspicion taking root.

"But is he nice?" Chiho asked, turning her head back to him.

"Only to sober people."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the two of us got conned into an escort a few nights ago," said Izanagi. "Our own fault. Two women, both cross-eyed drunk, on a four-hour walk home. We ended up falling asleep in their foyer."

"It sounds like you're the same way," Chiho asked.

"Yeah," said Izanagi, leaning back and slinging an arm over his chair. "I guess I am."

A glimmer of inspiration entered Chiho's eye. Her new companion didn't miss it.

"Then maybe we can help our siblings out."

Izanagi rested on his knees, his brow raising ever-so-slightly. "I'm listening."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu drummed his fingers on the body of his guitar. Izanagi should've been back by now. It wasn't that far to the hospital, and there were only so many times he could try and fail to keep up with heavy metal songs before his fears started to nag him. He'd gotten Izanagi's text, but that had been a while ago.

He set his brother's guitar down and turned off the music player, cutting off Gary Moore's soring vocals. Rather than tear up the apartment or take a walk looking for trouble, Kagedansu elected to go to the one place that made everyone's worries leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uzume watched as more yen left the wallet of an impressionable youth, to morph into another shot of sake. She was glad Kazehana had showed her this place; there was just something amusing about having all these boys surrounding her, chatting her up, buying her drinks. She almost felt like a celebrity.

A stir swept through the boys and they gradually dispersed. Looking to her right, she soon saw why.

"What's a nice girl like you drinking alone?" Kagedansu asked, swirling the liquor in his cup around as he slid next to her.

"I wasn't alone, you know," Uzume replied, amusedly annoyed.

"Uh-huh, sure," Kagedansu said sarcastically. "And I'm a peacock."

Uzume chuckled and downed a shot. "Buy a girl a drink?"

"Well, that depends. Is Number 3 here, too?"

"If Kazehana was here, this place wouldn't have any sake left," Uzume joked.

"Very true," said Kagedansu, motioning for another for Uzume. She downed it in short order. "So how many shots is it going to take to get you to unwind?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Uzume said playfully.

"Just two," The Shadow Sekirei replied, looking down at his cup. "I don't know why, but I just feel like holding this one."

"Well," Uzume sighed, "I've been having difficulty at work. My-" She hesitated before continuing; she _refused_ to acknowledge Higa as any kind of authority. "- _associates_ gave me a lot of grief over something I did, even though it was the right thing to do."

"Rough. Personally, I think everyone should always try to do the right thing. And if those guys disagree, then they can shove it."

His words were like an innocent slap to the face, though she knew he didn't mean it to be. She was quick to change the subject.

"Your turn. Why's a nice guy like _you_ drinking by himself?" Uzume asked.

Kagedansu's anxiety finally burst as he began slowly clawing at the sides of his head.

" _Because Izanagi's been gone longer than he should and I know he said he would be fine but what if something happened to him because I mean no one would suspect him of being an Ashikabi but what if they did he'd have-"_

" _ **Breathe,**_ **Kagedansu!** "

Uzume's bark snapped The Shadow Sekirei out of his blubbering. Of course, why else would he be here? It couldn't have _anything_ to do with hoping to see her again, like he'd suggested. Then she noticed something very peculiar.

"Hey… What's wrong with your eyes?" she asked, pointing at them. The irises had gone from blue to a bright, almost luminous shade of yellow.

"My tuner said it's a side-effect of my camouflage powers," he replied. "They do this whenever something's eating at me."

"Well, there's no need to worry," Uzume said, resting a hand on top of Kagedansu's. "Izanagi's a tough kid, and even if he does run into trouble, he'll get out of it."

"Yeah," Kagedansu affirmed, his eyes fading back to their usual blue. "I guess you're right."

He raised his cup.

"Cheers," he said, clinking it against Uzume's.

One shot later and he was down on the floor, passed out cold. Uzume sighed amusedly. She figured this was karma's way of avenging him for that time she and Kazehana had kept him up walking them home. That in mind, she had to wonder if he was faking it just to get back at her.

She slid her curvaceous buttocks from the bar stool and hoisted the living, breathing refrigerator over her shoulder. He was heavy, as his bulk would suggest, but it was nothing her Sekirei strength couldn't handle. Exiting, she was about to leave the bar behind and carry him home before realizing she didn't remember where Kagedansu lived. She'd only been there once, when she'd gone to binge-watch Skeleton Warriors (a show that had quickly become one of her favorites), and last time she'd had the address written down. Resigning herself to wait, she reached into the pocket of Kagedansu's pants and pulled out his cell phone. Surprisingly, Izanagi's was _not_ the only number he had, for there was another below it titled "Secret Master". Her curiosity had to wait, though.

After a short conversation, Izanagi knew where they were and that his Sekirei had passed his liquor limit, and was on his way there. All Uzume could do now was play the waiting game, because Izanagi had insisted on walking for some reason.

She set Kagedansu down on a nearby bench, looping an arm behind his waist. He slumped against her, his head resting on top of her breasts. She pushed him off, thinking he must be awake to pull a stunt like that, but then he crashed to the ground. Eyes widening in horror, she quickly set him back up. Once again, he tipped over and his head came to rest on her personal pillows, but she let him stay. In fact, stroking the fuzz of his crew-cut hair, it felt rather nice, actually.


	29. Someone New?

Kagedansu came around in his brother's apartment, still fully clothed, on a spring mattress covered with Steelwing-emblazoned bed sheets. His head felt like it was caught in a vice, with the world's most sadistic torturer turning the screw. His left cheek felt very pleased with itself for some reason, like it had been privy to something his brain had missed out on. He sat up, hand to his face, as the sounds of the building knocked about inside his cranium.

"Is it still today?" he asked groggily. He then realized that no one was in his room with him. At least, that's what he thought at first, until his mind filtered out one of the sounds as his brother's gentle breaths as he lay passed-out on the bedroll. It seemed his brother was punishing him by usurping his turn. After all, it wasn't every day that a man got to sleep on the floor of his own home.

Locating the clock on the side-table, Kagedansu could see that he'd been passed out for a good six hours or so, as it was almost midnight. Knowing of his brother's tendency to snore, and not wanting to make his headache even worse, he flopped back down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was just going to sleep this off.

Hard to do when thoughts of a certain brunette's smiling expression kept bringing him back around.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, how exactly are we going to pay for all this?" Minato asked, looking at the cavalcade of food (and sake) that was spread before him on the checkout counter. The noonday sun shone through the glass windows at the entrance, casting a warm glow about the outside.

"We're given an allowance by MBI, though mine got slashed after they found out what I was spending it all on," Kazehana said sheepishly, pulling a black debit card out of her cleavage and turning to her other compatriot. "Musubi?"

"I forgot mine when I left the Tower," Musubi said.

"You didn't go back for it?" Kazehana asked.

"I knew my Ashikabi would take care of me, so I decided I wouldn't eat until I found him!" she declared. "It wasn't a great idea…"

Kazehana sighed. She might've figured as much.

"It's fine," Minato said, pulling out his wallet. "My mom gave my allowance a boost now that I've passed my exams."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're finally here," Chiho exclaimed, in as excited a voice as her weakened state would allow.

"Of course! Where else would I be right now?" Uzume asked.

"Well, after our little talk yesterday, I thought you might skip your visit…"

"Chiho, _nothing_ would stop me from seeing you," Uzume said, leaning down and hugging her Ashikabi. "I know how much you love seeing me."

She then pulled back just enough so that she could lean in again and tentatively kiss Chiho on the lips. Her white wings emerged from her back as that familiar cascade of absolute euphoria descended down from her chest. Her tongue pushed its way in and began circling around the younger girl's, their kiss growing more passionate. Uzume felt Chiho's hand trying to move beside her hips, but her Ashikabi was too tired to manage on her own. So, Uzume gave her an assist, gently taking Chiho's hand and placing it over her breast. Right away, the girl started to fondle her Sekirei, making the effort despite her weakened body. Uzume gave a little sigh of contentment as Chiho did her best to tenderize Uzume's sweater-bunny. The brunette then proceeded to hike up her pink shirt, until Chiho's hand was caressing her tit directly. For all that it was, Uzume loved every minute of it, pulling Chiho closer and pressing her hand further into her bosom so as to increase their contact. In Chiho's state, it was all Uzume could hope for, but it was more than enough.

Finally, they separated, Uzume's cheeks a little more red than when they had started. Uzume smiled at her. "If you're happy, then I'm happy."

"You do like making me happy, Uzume," Chiho remarked.

Instantly the Sekirei snapped out of her affectionate revelry. She knew she was being set up, and that whatever it was, Chiho would probably get her way in the end.

"Because," Chiho continued, "now that you mention it…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu blinked and raised his eyebrows, completely nonplussed. "What?"

"Just a get-together," Izanagi said, deadpan as ever as he finished tuning his guitar. "It's high time you met some new people."

"At a movie theater, alone, with what I _know_ is going to be a girl. Why?"

"Because they're showing the Tao Te Ching of all rock music tonight, and the first time you see it needs to be on the big screen."

"That's not what I-" Kagedansu stopped as a more calculated question entered his mind. "If it's the final doctrine of rock 'n' roll, why aren't _you_ going?"

"First of all, it's not the final doctrine. That's the sequel." It must've been one hell of a movie, then, if Iza-kun felt the only thing that could surpass it was the follow-up. "Second, because I'm staying here to listen to the soundtrack, and third, because you need to get over your crippling paranoia about my health." Izanagi switched on the music. "Learn the ways of the Great Ones."

"The who now?" Kagedansu frowned, utterly perplexed by his brother's turn of phrase. He attempted to remedy this by picking up a second guitar and attempting to keep up with the music.

"Just be there," Izanagi commanded. "Trust me, one way or another, you'll have a grand old time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And all this is from some guy you just met yesterday?" Uzume asked.

"Uzume, this is a hospital, not a back alley. I don't think I have to question the integrity of everyone who walks in, especially when they don't have to."

 _That hurt_ , Uzume thought. Chiho's sentiment hit her right in the guilt.

"And what are you worried about?" Chiho asked, managing to reach out and take Uzume's hand. "You're a Sekirei. If there's trouble, I know you can handle it."

Uzume laughed. It seemed Chiho had left her no way out but _her_ way. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

"But enough about that," Chiho said. "Anything new happen since yesterday?"

They continued for hours, and probably would've gone on longer had Uzume brought one of her costumes along. After her visit with Chiho concluded and she left Higa's hospital, the thought crossed her mind to simply not go. She could just skip it and go do something else, spend time with Kaze-chan, maybe help her drink the city dry again. But Uzume lied to her Chiho enough already, and to her friends, so go she would.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally, the groceries were loaded up into an enormous bundle, Musubi volunteering to carry it. Being a more physical kind of Sekirei, cumbersome loads were no problem for her.

The walk home was uneventful until about halfway there. Out of nowhere, Minato had sensed someone following them, and he'd turned to see a familiar black dress cascading down a familiar pair of ivory legs clad in ebony thigh-high stockings. Tsukiumi had stopped with the rest, her arms folded, saying nothing.

"Hi, Tsukiumi-san!" Musubi chirped. "What are you doing here?"

Tsukiumi studied the sidewalk. "Tis but coincidence. Ye happen to travel the same path as I."

"Oh, is that all?" Kazehana teased, burying Minato's arm between her breasts and resting her head on his shoulder. "Are you sure it's not some _other_ reason?"

"What business is it of thee where I walk?" Tsukiumi snapped, suddenly very defensive.

Kazehana broke from Minato's arm. A whirlwind began to blow about her and suddenly the situation became very tense.

"Let me tell you something, Nine: the only people who get to talk to me like that are Number One and the Gamemaster," she declared, before turning to her Ashikabi. "And you, Minato."

"Thou seekest battle, Three? Then _bringest it!_ " Tsukiumi cried, a ball of water appearing in her hand. She hadn't come looking for trouble (oddly enough), but if this trollop was eager to face termination, then The Water Sekirei would not be one to refuse her!

"No, stop it!" Minato was suddenly between them, facing Tsukiumi's opponent. "Kazehana, you can't fight her!"

Kazehana stood her ground, unmoved. "And why not?"

"Because if you do, one of you will get taken away. I…" His head drooped. "Please, just leave her be."

Kazehana's momentary disdain was no match for her love for Minato, nor her desire to dispel his unhappiness. Her wind quieted with her ire.

"All right," she conceded, daintily brushing her ruffled hair back over her shoulders. Minato turned and saw that, much to his surprise, Tsukiumi's own hostility seemed to have receded. Her beautiful blue eyes, which only moments ago had been filled with fierce aggression, now showed… Was that tenderness he saw? No, wait, it wasn't just that. There was a hint of something else; whatever it was, it disappeared in an instant as Tsukiumi's prideful demeanor reasserted itself.

With that, the quartet had resumed their trip home, with no more words exchanged between them and the newcomer.

Tsukiumi stopped as they reached the front gate, watching them enter the inn, her expression unreadable. When Minato met her gaze on the porch step, they'd locked eyes for a moment before Tsukiumi took off, leaping off into the city.

Musubi had joined him as he'd stood in the doorway, watching Number 9 depart.

"Give her time," Musubi said. "She'll accept you when she realizes what a wonderful person you are."

"Maybe," Kazehana said, appearing next to her. "But sometimes when a woman wants a man, she likes it when he takes charge."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Kazehana…" Minato muttered, having not-too-fond memories of his encounter with The Water Sekirei during "Operation Kill-or-Be-Killed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As night fell, Kagedansu nervously waited at the theater entrance. His brother had promised to stay at the apartment while he was out, though the Shadow Sekirei had still been reluctant to leave him alone. Nevertheless, Izanagi had refused to allow Kagedansu to remain, all but kicking him to the curb when enlightenment, comradery and "one of the greatest soundtracks in rock movie history" awaited him.

Kagedansu sighed and leaned up against the wall, still wondering when this mysterious so-and-so would show herself (and he was still dead certain it would be a "her"). He felt something sticky against his back and immediately pushed off, reaching back to touch it. He pulled something gooey off and held it in front of his eyes: pink, wet, and no matter how many times Kagedansu flicked his hand or rubbed his fingers together, some would still cling to him.

"Before my life is over, I will find the one who did this," Kagedansu uttered through clenched teeth. "I will find them, so I can _explain_ to them, _very carefully_ …"

The subsequent series of indecipherable grumbles and mutterings was interrupted by a familiar shout.

"Kagedansu? What are you doing here?" Uzume trotted up to him the moment she spotted him.

"Finding out how gross some people can be," The Shadow Sekirei replied. "Also waiting."

"Waiting? Who for?"

Kagedansu shrugged. "No clue. Izanagi just said I'd meet someone here. Is it you?"

"I'm not sure. Have you met my Ashikabi?" Uzume asked.

"I dunno. What's he look like?"

"Well, that's a 'no' then," Uzume said, sighing. She hesitated before speaking up. "Do you… Wanna wait together?"

"Sure," Kagedansu replied, quicker than he would've liked.

And so Uzume leaned up against the wall, Kagedansu making sure there wasn't any gum on it, and stood next to her friend. About five minutes before the movie was about to start, she finally gave up.

"Whoever it is, I guess they're not coming," she sighed, rolling off the wall and turning to leave. What a waste of time this had been.

Kagedansu placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She felt a small piece of paper fluttering between her shirt and his palm.

"I went ahead and bought two tickets for the show," he said. "You want to watch with me?"

Uzume answered by reaching up and sliding one of the paper stubs out from under Kagedansu's hand. She then turned and looped an arm around his own.

"Shall we?" she asked, beaming up at him.

Kagedansu returned her smile and swept a hand towards the theater entrance. "Lead the way."


	30. A Shadow Unveiled

Minato went to bed early that night. Kazehana and Musubi had gotten very affectionate at the mention of a bath, and after a friendly fight over him, pulling on him this way and that, Miya had finally intervened and smacked them all on the head for good measure. Mixed baths were not allowed, as they might lead to the violation of persons involved.

The winners of the love-skirmish had ended up being Ku and Matsu, who had stayed with their Ashikabi to play Naho. Ku had won handily each time, and in doing so had frustrated the Wisdom Sekirei mightily.

Minato sighed and face-planted on his pillow. Even if he hadn't been physically active, keeping up with all of the girls in his life could be an exhausting experience.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu walked out of the theater entrance, his eyes wide from the influx of insight he'd received. Appropriate, since what he'd just witnessed had opened his mind to so many things: rock music, world history, philosophy, secrets of immortality, not to mention why his brother acted the way he did.

"Izanagi said I'd find enlightenment here, and like an idiot I didn't believe him," The Shadow Sekirei muttered.

"I dunno," Uzume said, walking beside him, not quite as blown-away as her companion. "Was it really _that_ great?"

"Yes." Kagedansu's response was automatic.

Uzume had to admit, even if the movie hadn't been as world-shattering for her as it was her companion, she'd had a smile on her face the whole way through. And the soundtrack had been absolutely amazing. She still had a cavalcade of rock and heavy metal songs all fighting to occupy her thoughts, each as triumphant as the last. Eventually, she settled on one particular head-banger from the scene when the so-called Great Ones' separation became imminent.

 _It's a holiday_ _…_ _  
_ _A modern day_ _…_ _  
_ _A day to change your life_ _…_ _  
_ _Make it new and bright_ _…_ _  
_ _But bitterness abounds_ _…_ _  
_ _By people all around_ _…_ _  
_ _Bring him down like the rain_ _  
_ _Tie him down, ball and chain_

The two Sekirei paid little attention to where they headed, content to leave the theater and walk in the general direction of the Izumo Inn. Uzume used the excuse of Kagedansu walking her home to keep him from running to check on his Ashikabi. She knew worrying was perfectly fine, but Kagedansu bordered on paranoid obsession.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As they passed through one particular alley, a feminine voice called out to them.

"Two of you? Maybe tonight's not a total wash after all."

Out of nowhere, a slender form emerged from the shadows and into the light. She was a dark-skinned girl with jet-black hair, wearing a bikini top beneath a hooded shawl. A loose-fitting half-dress covered most of her legs, sans the split down the middle. All of her clothes were as black as her hair.

"I'm Number 57, Yahan," said the girl, brandishing a curved dagger. "So, which one of you is going to fight me first?"

Kagedansu felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders. He glanced back to see Uzume hiding behind him, clearly in no mood to fight. She looked a little afraid, and Kagedansu could guess why.

 _Well, that's disappointing_ , he thought. He'd hoped that she'd be strong enough to take care of herself, but apparently that wasn't the case. Oh well. That just made his course of action all the more clear.

"Right here," he said, stepping forward and thumping his chest. "Number 67, Kagedansu."

"The loud-mouth?" Yahan remarked, twirling her dagger and backing into the shadows. "This shouldn't take long."

Kagedansu was about to bite back when he heard a whistling sound come from behind him. Whirling around, he pushed Uzume away while managing to avoid Yahan's dagger. She'd aimed for his heart, now turning it in to slash at his chest. He'd blocked her at the forearm and snapped his elbow forward, smashing it into her face and sending her back. She'd once again disappeared, clutching her bloodied nose.

The inappropriately named Shadow Sekirei now turned to face his back to the street, counting on the moonlight to be his rearguard. Yahan popped in beside him and slashed his right bicep. She then shadow-blinked over to his left, this time merely grazing his chest as Kagedansu pin-wheeled his hands around like a window washer, trying to keep the blade away from his vitals. Finally an opening presented itself and he landed a quick jab into Yahan's abdomen. She backed up and teleported away before he could follow up.

Kagedansu likewise backed into the shadows and turned invisible (or so he hoped). His eyes scanned the shadows of the alley. She wasn't a ghost, so she was probably teleporting away when not engaged, as to give herself time to plan a new attack. He shifted his body and slowly shuffled over to the corner, being careful not to stray into the light. She probably needed line-of-sight to him in order to gauge her attacks, so he should be able to spot her if he looked long enough.

There! Above him, on the roof, the shadow she cast hidden among the darkness of the alley way. She was looking for him, with Uzume out in the street, where she wouldn't get hurt.

Forming a plan, The Shadow Sekirei silently leapt up. Yahan perked up at the sound of his feet leaving the asphalt, but was unable to spot him. Throwing caution to the wind, he pushed off the wall behind him and rocketed at Number 57, turning himself visible as he did so. She managed to avoid him, slashing at his ribs. Kagedansu merely took the strike and lashed out in a flurry of punches and kicks, each of them strong enough to crack stone. A few glancing blows connected, but nothing to stop Yahan from stabbing him in the left thigh.

Kagedansu winced in pain, knowing that his would spell the end of him if he didn't end this fight quickly. As Yahan withdrew her blade, now covered in red, The Shadow Sekirei shifted his weight to the ball of his right foot, pushing up and rearing back his right fist to strike. Then, as he was about to follow through, and hoping his wound wouldn't cost him the fight, he reengaged his camouflage. In the split second it took for Yahan's eyes to adjust, Kagedansu lowered himself, planted his left foot, and swept his right leg around behind him. His sweep caught Yahan about the ankles and sent her tumbling to the ground. Kagedansu bit through the pain and quickly took his weight off his wounded side, pinning Yahan's wrist to the roof with his left hand. With her dagger immobilized, he then grabbed her shoulder with his right hand and flipped her on to her stomach, planting a knee in the small of her back.

He paused as he saw that Yahan had no Sekirei crest, then frowned. Did this girl really have her priorities _so_ ass-backwards, that she'd rather be out fighting than searching for an Ashikabi? Yahan made a half-hearted attempt to stab Kagedansu with her dagger, but from his position he was able to block her arm with ease. He was in complete control of the fight, and they both knew it.

"How do you expect to win the Plan like this?" he coughed. This girl had really done a number on him with that knife. "You'd rather be fighting than finding an Ashikabi?"

Yahan merely struggled harder, and Kagedansu felt a shiver pass from her back into his knee. "I reacted to someone, but when I reached him he was in three different pieces, all of them stuffed in a trash can."

Kagedansu felt his stomach try to eject the junk food he'd eaten. What a horrible way to go: ripped apart and thrown out with the refuse. Still, if he didn't beat her now, Yahan would take his crest and then go after his... Well, he wasn't about to call Uzume his date, they were just friends. Right now. Seeing a movie together. Nothing more than that, right?

Kagedansu put those thoughts aside. Summoning all of his strength, he slammed his elbow into the back of Yahan's head. An audible cracked sounded from her head striking the rooftop, leaving hairline fractures in the stone. As her body went limp, Kagedansu toppled onto his side; the pain of his injuries was catching up to him, now that the adrenaline was leaving his system. He was nowhere near the limits of his stamina, but after that many knife wounds, he felt like having a lie-down.

"Kagedansu!" Uzume was there to brace him, blood staining her palms a bright scarlet. He looked up at her as she held his head in her arms, his back lying against her thighs.

"How'd I do?" he breathed, forcing a grin on to his face.

"Most excellent," Uzume replied, hugging him to her chest and returning his smile. "Now stop talking."

Soon enough, they heard the sound of MBI choppers in the distance, coming to collect the fallen. Both knew that before this mad game was over, at least one of them would be carried away in a similar manner.

"I hope some stranger finishes me off," Kagedansu sighed, closing his eyes and resting in Number 10's embrace. "Don't know if I could do that to my friends."

Uzume said nothing, merely nodding at his sentiment.

"Uh, Uzume?"

"Yeah?"

He slowly exhaled pain from his wounds. "A little less crushing, if you don't mind?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once more, Minato dreamed of the elusive Lady of the Water, this time on a fog-covered beach. She sat on a rocky outcropping that overlooked the ocean, her back to him. The fog left her form in a blurry haze, but no woman he knew had hair as bright or as beautiful as Tsukiumi's.

He walked up and sat down next to her. She said nothing to him, not even acknowledging his presence. He'd leaned over, trying to gauge her mood, but once again her stern expression was impossible to read. The fog wasn't helping, either.

But when he leaned back on his hands, she'd placed her own hand on top of his and threaded her fingers among his own. He shot her a puzzled look as she turned her face slightly away from him. The fog dispersed just enough for Minato to see that despite her stoic demeanor, she was blushing, ever so slightly.

His line of sight returned to the haze that spread out before him, a warmth covering the back of his right hand. The two of them simply sat there, in the realm between sleep and awareness, their hands pressed against each other's, tentatively feeling the warmth of the other. Minato had to wonder if she was as disappointed by his awakening separating them.


	31. The Plots Thicken

Sekirei Number 105, Benitsubasa, stood at the window of her room, looking out into the night. It wasn't _her_ room, per say, just a corner of the suite she shared with her squad mates. One of the perks of being in the Discipline Squad was living in the lap of luxury. This apartment was bigger than most small houses, sporting a swimming pool, a dojo, a fully stocked kitchen, an upstairs lounge, and an entire separate bedroom for each member, plus one for the man of the house, Ichinomi Natsuo.

But all of that vice couldn't get her mind off of one thing, the thing that had been pestering her and gnawing at her ever since that night on the bridge. It followed her everywhere she went, out on patrol, into battle, into bed, even in to the shower.

"Number 88…" The Red Sekirei seethed as she soaped her hair. She stuck her head directly under the shower head and felt the suds run down her naked body. The door to the showers open and someone entered the stall next to her.

"I looked into it like you asked me to, Red," Haihane said, slinging her towel over the door and turning on the water.

"And?" Benitsubasa asked, sudding her hands and running them along her skinny arms.

"Turns out we're third generation Discipline Squad," Haihane explained. "The squad's been formed twice before, last time only having two members. Black was one of them, but she wasn't the leader. That was Number Eight."

 _Someone stronger than Black,_ Benitsubasa thought. She had a bit of trouble grasping the thought, considering most Sekirei darkened their pants at the mere mention of Karasuba's name.

"Here's the weird part, though," Haihane continued. "MBI records officially state Number Eight was killed during the second invasion of Kamikura Island."

" _What?!_ " Benitsubasa screeched.

"Yeah. Couldn't have said it better myself," Haihane mused.

"Damn!" Benitsubasa slammed her bare fist against the tile wall, cracking it and causing a chunk to fall off. "How am I supposed to get back at a dead person?"

"Why not just fight 88 again?" came an ice-cold voice. Benitsubasa and Haihane both peeked over the walls of the stalls. There she was, Number 4, Karasuba, wearing a towel and preparing to wash up.

"What good would that do?" The Red Sekirei asked. She had an idea of where her leader was going, but she just wanted to make sure.

"You defeated her once before, and that's when that other person came out," Karasuba elaborated. "So if you do it again, she should emerge again."

"I will," Benitsubasa said. "We'll do it the day after tomorrow."

"Do we have to do it then?" Haihane asked. "There's this TV show I really like, and the last episode's airing then."

"Well, we can't do it on work days, now can we, Blue?!" The Red Sekirei barked. "Just have someone record it!"

Karasuba listened to the rest of the exchange in silence. With any luck, Benitsubasa would make good on her promise and beat Musubi. Then Yume would show herself, and Karasuba would finally kill her.

The other two couldn't see it, but Karasuba was smiling. And it was about as far from pleasant as one could get.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Seriously, I'll be fine!"

Kagedansu winced as the bandages that the MBI personal had been kind enough to provide for him tugged on his flesh, causing his leg wound to holler in protest.

"Iza-kun's probably worried about me!"

"You're covered in cuts and you can hardly walk," Uzume shot back, feeling the weight of his bulk once again as he leaned on her. "If I let you run free, you'll just end up sleeping on the sidewalk."

"Yeah, well maybe I _want_ to sle-" Kagedansu's retort was cut off as his left limb decided to go on strike, sending him tumbling to the ground. Rather, he _would_ have hit the dirt, if not for Uzume grabbing his gi and nearly ripping it off as the cuts Yahan had left widened further.

Uzume hoisted his arm back over her shoulder and put her face next to his ear. "Are you sure? I have a nice soft bedroll with your name on it," she cajoled.

"Ugh, fine," Kagedansu conceded. Truth be told, he felt pretty sleepy, and no amount of worry was going to keep him up after the fight he'd just had.

Uzume helped him into the Inn and up the stairs to her room. Kagedansu whistled as he took in all the stuffed animals lying about.

"Sorry," Uzume whispered. "I haven't had a chance to pick up."

Kagedansu mumbled gibberish that Uzume interpreted as not giving a damn. Leaving him to clear a spot for himself, Uzume went to clean up before she retired for the night. When she returned, she heard the faint wisps of slumbering breath coming from her room.

The Veil Sekirei peeked in to find Kagedansu face-down in the most awkward position imaginable, his butt in the air, his head face-down on the hard floor, sound asleep next to her bedroll. Sighing amusedly, she quickly disrobed and donned her rather revealing nightie. More than once she'd gone downstairs while forgetting to change out of it, one time forgetting to wear panties and thus earning her a smack from Miya. She couldn't help it; it felt absolutely fantastic, tight in all the right places and just as easy on her skin as it was on the eyes. She was still trying to figure out how to get Chiho to see her in it, but right now a more pressing matter needed tending to.

Uzume knelt down next to her surprise roommate, wondering if she should push him over so he wouldn't be sore in the morning. It was at that moment that Kagedansu rolled over on to the adjacent bedspread. In the process, he managed to pinch his sleeveless gi between his shoulder and the hard wood, widening all the fresh holes in it. As his back came to rest on Uzume's thighs, his top finally tore itself apart and left his chest bare.

Right away, Uzume was hit with a full blast of masculine pheromones, stockpiled beneath Kagedansu's now-shredded gi. The smell went straight to her head, conjuring a whole host of amorous desires and igniting a spark between her legs. Uzume had seen plenty of images of men without their shirts on, but to have one up close, in person, with the texture of his back muscles pressed against her silken thighs, was making her mind go blank.

Uzume swallowed, sliding her arms beneath him to gently move him over. Doing so brought her face even closer to Kagedansu's chest as it rose and fell in blissful slumber. The smell intensified, and Uzume had to actively resist it lest she take advantage of the other Sekirei in his unconscious state, and not in a way that involved his crest. Her breasts grazed his left arm, their softness contrasting with the tautness of Kagedansu's muscles, which themselves were covered with a thin layer of softness. She gave into temptation and slid them back and over one more time, relishing how it felt. Any more and the floodgates on her control might burst, so she quickly shifted him over and lay down next to him, pulling the blanket over them both. Her left thigh caressed the fabric of his pant leg, and she slid her arm over his bare chest, snuggling up to him.

Kagedansu shifted in his sleep, wedging an elbow beneath Uzume's side and rolling his head until his cheek tentatively came to rest on the tip of her nose. Once again, Uzume was caressed by his odor, weaker but ever-present. His stirrings made her question whether or not he actually _was_ asleep, until she realized that, much like his opinion on her tidiness, she didn't care.

Uzume's thoughts eventually quieted as she drifted into dreamland. But even in her unconscious state, the slightest hint of her desire still remained.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu awoke face-to-face with a sleeping angel.

Then he blinked away the haze from his eyes and realized that it was Uzume, clad in the most revealing outfit he'd seen since he'd fought The Veiled Sekirei. Kagedansu quickly clamped a hand over his nose to stop his sharp intake of breath from waking her and inchwormed himself backwards, getting a particularly fierce case of morning wood in doing so.

Thinking about the Veiled Sekirei made his mind drift back to his first encounter with Number 9, Tsukiumi. Now _that_ had been a good time. Three other Sekirei, two of them single numbers, having it out with him on the rooftops. The rush of battle, the wind on his face, the gleeful satisfaction he'd felt from landing knocks on his opponents, there were few things that got him going like a spectacular brawl.

Which only it more disappointing when Uzume had shown herself to be not much of a fighter. People who were fighters didn't hide when someone threw down the gauntlet. Kagedansu would never dream of actually harming her, never mind taking her out of the game, but the occasional friendly spar would've been nice.

Stretching and flexing the fatigue away from his muscles, he looked down to see that Uzume was lying awake and staring at up him in full deer-in-the-headlights mode.

Realizing he was looking right at her snapped Uzume out of her stupor. "Good morning," she said.

Kagedansu slowly opened his mouth to reply. Truth be told, he wasn't used to waking up next to a girl, nor to being looked at like this. It felt kind of embarrassing, among other, less intimidating things.

That's when the door slid open and someone else returned Uzume's greeting.

"Well, good mor-" Miya's words caught in her throat as she saw the shirtless behemoth sitting up on Uzume's bedroll.

"Morning, Miya," came Matsu's voice from the hall. "What's going on over here?"

She, too, halted in her tracks, her eyes widening at the sight of his shirtless body. Matsu may have been Minato's Sekirei, but she wasn't picky about her choice of men. And like Uzume, Number 2 was also wearing nothing but her underwear, though it seemed she'd exited Minato's room just in time to avoid another of Miya's thrashings. Kagedansu politely covered his eyes with his hand as Matsu started giggling perversely.

"Did you bring him here, Uzume?" Miya asked, her voice dead serious.

"Maybe," Uzume replied, with the guiltiest of smiles on her face.

Miya's stern expression lightened up as Kagedansu stood, still blinding himself, and revealed that he was still wearing pants.

"Well, that's a yes," Miya sighed. She turned away from Uzume to Matsu. "If both of you would get dressed; we don't need Kagedansu getting any lustful urges."

"Don't worry, Asama-dono. Any and all urges will remain locked inside my head," Kagedansu remarked, tapping his cranium.

This prompted a fit of sputtered chuckling from both Uzume and Matsu. Musubi was the next to emerge from Minato's room, sporting a fresh lump on her skull. The sound of pained moans followed in her wake as Kazehana and Minato were equally chastised for violating the sleeping arrangements.

"What's everyone laughing about?" she asked, rubbing her new injury.

"I don't know," Kagedansu said, feeling his way along the wall and down the hallway, still blinding himself. "Asama-dono said I'm prone to a certain... _condition_ , and I told her I'd keep firm grasp on it."

At this, Numbers 2 and 10 burst out laughing, leaving the two fist-types equally bewildered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miya was kind enough to cook additional breakfast for Kagedansu, who despite not having as voracious an appetite as Musubi, still managed to put away quite a bit of food.

Kazehana had a great idea as the octet of guests all shared a meal together.

"Say," she said, looking over at Kagedansu, "why don't you and Izanagi come over tomorrow night for the party?"

"Well, that depends," Kagedansu said. "What kind of tunes are you bringing?"

Kazehana thought about it for a moment. She hadn't considered music as a factor, though it would certainly liven things up.

"Tell you what," she said, waving her hand at him, "why don't you supply the music, if it means you two will be there?"

"Sounds like a plan," came the response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Izanagi awoke to find his Sekirei nowhere to be seen. Either Kagedansu had been defeated while out and about or his and Chiho's plan had worked a little _too_ well. One outcome was far more favorable than the other.

No point in worrying, though. He took a shower, and was just stepping out when he heard the door to his apartment swing open.

"Little brother? You here?"

Izanagi exited the bathroom, and there he was: his Sekirei.

"Yeah," was all the youth said.

"No time for that!" Kagedansu said, obviously not paying one shred of attention as he grabbed a guitar. "We have a gig tomorrow night at Izumo Inn! **SO LET'S GET PRACTICING!** "

Izanagi had zoned out after the second sentence.

"We do?" he asked. No one but Kagedansu could've detected the barest trace of excitement in his voice.


	32. A Dish Best Served Cold

**Author's comment:**

I'm taking requests. Don't believe me? Some guest reader requested that I do a little more with Matsu and Minato in a review he/she left me. So I slipped a moment between them into Chapter 26. Thanks to him/her, I also got the idea to do a bit more with the pair, _way_ down the line. So please, ask and thou might receive.

But, anywho…

* * *

It began as a day like any other.

Tsukiumi was out and about, looking for Homura, who seemed to be the only one she could find who would both stand their ground and provide her with a real battle. She'd already bested one Sekirei in combat, some athletic girl wielding bladed cesti as weapons, but it had been far too short. Since then, the only one to challenge her outright had been that braggart No. 67, Kagedansu.

Her face still whinged when she recalled that sneak attack he'd caught her with when they'd battled. It was just as much the physical pain as it was the thought of being touched by a man. In fact, looking around the street, she felt her irritation increasing immensely at all the leers she was getting from the men. She knew what they wanted, and if any of them so much as _dared_ try anything about her, they'd pay for it dearly.

In fact, the only man she'd encountered (aside from Kagedansu, obviously) who hadn't looked at her like that, was ironically the very man who would be her Ashi-

No, _NO!_ That was her core talking again, not her better judgement. If she let her Sekirei heart have its way, she might find herself in a very submissive and very compromising position. And at least _one_ of those her pride would not allow.

"Tsukiumi-san? Number 9?"

The Water Sekirei whirled around, a ball of water already swelling in her open palm, but the person who spoke was no Sekirei she knew of. He was a tad shorter than her, with shoulder-length hair as black as his T-shirt. The shirt itself portrayed what appeared to be an undead samurai, his flesh gaunt as it stretched over his skeletal features, wielding twin swords and almost bursting out from the cloth.

"I am Number 9, yes. Who art thou?" A thought occurred to her. "And how dost thou know of the Sekirei Plan?"

"Musashibo Izanagi," the youth replied. "Kagedansu's my Sekirei. I think you met him before."

 _So this beeth 67's Ashikabi_ , Tsukiumi thought. _Wait, this means they..._

Tsukiumi's face turned bright red as a host of sickening thoughts invaded her mind. If Izanagi noticed (or even cared), he gave no sign.

"I can't seem to find him," the metalhead continued. "Know where he is?"

Tsukiumi snapped out of her nauseated speculation. "I've not laid eyes on him, no."

"Well, if you find him, mind telling him to get back to my apartment? I haven't seen him all day. Really wish he'd tell me where he was going, after that incident at the bar."

Izanagi's request was not helping Tsukiumi's train of thought; it once again went back to what this youth must have done to his Sekirei, in order to wing him. _67… Doth his gate really swing that way?_

"Question," he said simply. Tsukiumi met his gaze. "I was told that you Sekirei are all meant to be with someone, your Ashikabi. What's stopping you?"

She turned her nose up at this, folding her arms. "Just because I react to Sahashi-san does not mean I give him consent to…"

Tsukiumi hesitated for a moment.

" _Violate_ me." She nearly choked on her words.

Izanagi simply nodded. "Yeah, that's a good call," he said. "Though, if you're really reacting to him, you could at least kiss the guy."

Tsukiumi scowled, disgusted at such a shameless suggestion. "And why would I do such a thing?"

"So some other jerk can't, what was it... 'Wing' you," he said, then shrugged. "What happens after that is up to you. It's not like he could force you." And with that, Izanagi walked past her, on his way to wherever he was going.

Tsukiumi was left more than a bit flabbergasted. Did this strange youth speak the truth? Was the winging process truly so simple? This only made it harder to keep down the heat in her bosom as she leapt about the rooftops.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't believe Kazehana went through that much in one day..." Minato moaned as he dragged himself back from the grocery store.

"Well, she does love her sake," Musubi chirped, carrying a bag filled with bottles. Her face turned into a chipmunk-like huff. "I just wish she could take it easy on how much she drinks."

Kazehana had wanted to accompany them on their shopping trip, always eager to spend time with her hubby. However, Musubi had, in a surprising moment of conviction, scolded her for her excessive drinking. Musubi told her that since she was the reason they had to use more of Minato's money, and since Kazehana had drunk herself out of her weekly allowance from MBI, she would have to wait at the inn. Kusano, like a good little soldier, had volunteered to remain behind, to make sure Kazehana didn't sneak off and join them. The Wind Sekirei had simply sighed and accepted her punishment, lying back on the roof and watching them leave while Kusano watched her like an angry little hawk.

Minato was surprised Kazehana had reacted the way she did to Musubi talking down to her, given how she'd responded to Tsukiumi's outburst. Then again, Musubi _did_ have a point.

And on her point, Minato couldn't help but laugh. Hearing Musubi chastise someone else for their lack of restraint was like hearing the darkest pot call the shiniest kettle black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, high up on a rooftop, Benitsubasa watched the two on the sidewalk below. It seemed Number 88, by happenstance, was guarding him. She felt her entire body grow tense in anticipation. Her revenge was right there, waiting for her, the indignation she'd suffered _begging_ to be-

That was when she noticed that Haihane, who was _supposed_ to be helping her, was curled up in a ball behind her.

"What's _your_ problem?" she demanded.

"My show… I'm going to miss it."

"Then why didn't you get someone to record it?"

Haihane shifted around and looked at her partner. "Kidnapping takes too long. Simple defeat? Easier."

Benitsubasa clenched her fist and ground her teeth.

"You really think a simple defeat is going to be enough?" she seethed. "After the humiliation we endured? No, I need to hit her where it _really_ hurts, with some good old-fashioned psychological pain."

Haihane waited a moment before speaking up.

"But my show…"

" _Oh, for crying out loud!_ " The Red Sekirei screeched. " _Just get down there already!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The couple were about halfway home when Musubi looked up, dropped the bag and yanked Minato back. A bandage-clad form landed where he'd been standing, brandishing her bladed gauntlets. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

"Oh boy, you're with the Discipline Squad!" Musubi squeaked, her fists trembling with excitement.

"Number 104, Haihane, at your service," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" Minato asked. If MBI had wanted to retaliate for the bridge escapade, he'd expected them to do it sooner.

"The Discipline Squad also participates in the Sekirei Plan," the Blue Sekirei said. "How about it, 88?"

"I'm _always_ up for a fight!" Musubi said, the thrill of battle empowering her limbs. She wasted no time, rushing in swinging. Haihane swayed and slashed at Musubi's side, ripping at the sleeves of her gi. Musubi countered with a backfist to Haihane's cheek, sending her spinning. The Blue Sekirei rubbed her wrist against her face, careful not to cut herself with her claws, before jumping on top of an awning and over a rooftop. Musubi's attempt to follow was hindered when she missed the metal braces of the awning and fell through.

"Don't go! We just started!" she called, getting off her soft posterior and renewing her pursuit.

"Musubi-"

Minato was cut off when a hand pulled him into a nearby corridor between buildings, sending him stumbling by another form and into the shadows. He spun around, and right away recognized the form by its pink hair and matching combat gloves.

"Remember me?"

She didn't wait for Minato to answer, zooming forward and slamming a fist into his gut. The blow wasn't enough to kill him, but it still forced all the air from his lungs. With her other hand, she hooked the side of his head and sent him into the concrete wall, knocking him out cold.

"Hmph. Too easy," Benitsubasa sneered. "88's just an idiot."


	33. Aid (Un)Welcomed

Musubi continued chasing her clawed opponent, though the further they went, the less it felt like a fight and more like a long, boring game of tag.

"Um, how long are you going to keep running?" she called to Haihane. "Because after this, I need to help Minato carry the groceries!"

Haihane responded by veering left, vaulting off of the higher wall of an adjacent building, and lunging at Musubi. The Blue Sekirei's claws swiped hungrily at Musubi's form: left, up, lunge, right, the last one snipping off the lock that stood atop Musubi's head. Clenching her fist, Number 88 slugged Haihane in the gut, causing the Blue Sekirei to dry-heave the contents of her lungs. She recovered quickly, almost catching Musubi's next punch in her bladed gauntlet before the brunette called her fist back. Haihane snapped the same hand forward, raking her claws against Musubi's stomach, opening her gi and drawing lines of blood on her abdomen. Musubi twirled away from Haihane's next sweep and, mimicking something she'd seen Kagedansu do, brought her fist around like a morning star. Miya's training had taught her to always keep her eyes on her opponent and not turn her back, but she thought if she could do it fast enough-

She still clocked Haihane in the temple and sent her sprawling, though she'd been aiming lower on her opponent's face.

The Blue Sekirei sprang to her feet to be greeted by the sight of Musubi hopping up and down in total thrall of her giddiness.

"Wow! I can't believe I'm actually fighting one of the Discipline Squad again!" she exclaimed.

"You really are something else, you know that, 88?" Haihane said sardonically.

"Thank you!" the fist-type answered, doing a short bow. Haihane mentally sighed, the tiniest bit annoyed by this. She was used to Benitsubasa's pragmatism, so hearing something to vacuous from another fist-type just felt… wrong. _She_ was wrong, this one. And yet she was why Haihane was out here, for some reason having agreed to do this instead of staying at the suite, catching up on Baron Dark and his laser-toting legion of the undead.

"Why weren't you this fast on the bridge?"

"That time I had to worry about Kuno and Shigi-san's safety, plus Minato's, but now I can move without any worries at all!" Musubi proclained, sparkles floating in front of her eyes.

Haihane tried to stifle her laughter but only managed to force it down to a throaty chuckle.

"Did I say something funny?" Musubi asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Same failure, different mistake," Haihane muttered. "So yeah, funny."

By now, Haiane's partner-in-crime had hopefully made off with 88's Ashikabi, and even if she hadn't, Haihane didn't really care. She might've cared more if Benitsubasa hadn't violently insisted that The Blue Sekirei not terminate 88 until "the moment was right". _That_ was a nest of vipers that she would rather avoid. And she did so by leaping back to an adjacent rooftop, having had enough of playing pretend.

"Wait, don't go! We just started!" Musubi called out.

"And now we're finished!" Haihane echoed back. She smiled a most toothy of smiles. "I'd get home, if I were you! Can't keep your Ashikabi waiting!"

As Haihane made off, Musubi caught her passing remark of, "If he's still in one piece."

This put Musubi in a bit of a stump. Why would someone from the Discipline Squad say something-

Then it hit her. Discipline _Squad_. You needed more than one person to make a squad. Or at least, Musubi was pretty sure you did. But it didn't matter, because she _knew_ there were more people on the Discipline Squad, and Karasuba wasn't going to fight her just yet. Unless, of course, The Black Sekirei just wanted a fight because she was in the mood, and Musubi couldn't blame her if she was. Musubi felt the same way just now, having fought Karasuba-sama's junior only a short while ago before her opponent just up and left. Wait, didn't that one have a partner, that night on the bridge?

Musubi stood statue-still as her scattered thoughts finally came back to Planet Earth.

"Oh my gosh, _**Minato!**_ "

She bolted back to the Inn as fast as she could run, taking a route past the spot where she'd left Minato. She thought that maybe, hopefully, not likely, but possibly, Minato might still be there. Because, if he was, she could just bring him over to the Inn, then come back and finish her fight with Number 104.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Benitsubasa was busy dialing on Minato's phone when he finally came around. He protested about its theft, but The Red Sekirei snidely pressed his face down with her foot and said that she was just borrowing it. She put it to her ear and listened to it ring a few times before someone picked up.

" _Hello hello?_ " said a cute little voice. She must've gotten the kid that this loser had winged. No matter. Haihane had probably ditched the chase by now, just like they'd planned for (in case Numer 88 had been guarding him), so that ditz would no doubt be running back to the rest of the bimbos she lived with. With any luck, she'd already be there.

"I want the big-breasted woman," Benitsubasa demanded. "Put her on."

" _Big-breasted? Hmmmm…"_

As the girl's voice drifted off, Benitsubasa's patience for waiting quickly expired.

"Well, can you get her or can't you? The one with the mammoth mammaries, Number Eighty-Eight!"

" _I can't count to eighty-eight…_ " she heard the kid whimper. There was a pause, then, " _Ooooone… Twooooo… Then three… Fooooour…_ "

"What the- Why are you counting?!"

" _And fiiiive…_ "

A moment of silence followed.

" _Hey, who is this?"_

"Look, it doesn't matter who I am," Benitsubasa growled. "Just tell me if she's there."

" _My name's Ku. I'm here_."

"That's not what I'm asking! Where's Number Eighty-Eight?!"

" _Right before 87?_ "

A grimace shot-gunned itself on The Red Sekirei's face. "Yes. _That_ Eighty-Eight _,_ " she hissed. "So is. She there. Or not?"

" _Who is this again?_ "

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO I AM, ALRIGHT?! JUST SHUT UP AND LEMME TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE! _ANYONE_ ELSE! YA _GOT THAT, KID?!_ "

" _Okay!_ "

 _Click._

"WAAAAAAAGH! NOOOOOO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Matsu, somebody's on the phone," Ku said, pointing at the receiver.

"No, Ku," The Wisdom Sekirei chuckled. "If you put that part down you hang up on them. What did they want?"

"They said they wanted to talk to somebody," the child replied. She pointed to herself. "Is Ku somebody, Matsu?"

"Of course you are, Ku-chan," Kazehana said, appearing behind her, empty bottle in hand. She rubbed the youngest Sekirei's head. "Don't sweat it. With any luck, they'll call us back."

Kusano's eyes sparkled. "Really?!" She turned and focused all her willpower on to the phone, _commanding_ it to ring again. "Come on come on come on come on…"

Sure enough, the phone obeyed. But Kazehana's hand was quicker than Ku's, snatching up the receiver. With her other hand she gently pushed away Ku's grasping paws.

"Hello?" Number 3 asked.

" _Well, you don't sound like Number Eighty-Eight,_ " came the embittered response.

"Number Eighty-Eight? What, am I too good for you, hun?"

" _Look, I'm not in the mood and you really don't have time for this,_ _ **trust me**_ , _so why don't you just-_ "

"Wait, I remember you," Kazehana smirked. "You're Little Miss Washboard from the Discipline Squad."

The caller's response was a pretty fine impression of a steam boiler. A few decipherable words were among the sputters and hisses, just enough for Kazehana to conclude, "Wow, and I thought she was a bitch before."

Click.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the wharf, sitting on a roof, Kagedansu listened carefully to the sound of his D string, trying to match it to the foghorn of the nearby bulk liner. He'd found this spot before, and since his brother the previous evening had kept complaining that his guitar was never quite in tune, he'd come out here to absolve the issue. Moreover, it gave him space to practice to a really nice view of the ocean, with gentle sunlight warming his dark clothes. He'd found a few new songs that he'd really liked, and been able to pick up the English words pretty quickly. Front men like Bruce Dickenson and Rickard "Riley" Sviestins might have been heavy metal gods, but their slurred vocals were a bit tougher for a non-English speaker to learn.

The main reason he was out here, though, was because of these songs in particular. They were about as far from heavy metal as you could get without leaving the rock 'n' roll genre entirely, and Kagedansu didn't have the courage to admit to his brother that he was going soft for even _older_ oldies.

Now, if that person in the warehouse below would stop shrieking about numbers and stuff, he could get on to practicing. She'd had two conniptions already, and Kagedansu had a mind to go down there and teach her a lesson. Specifically, a lesson from the two Great Ones. Hopefully that last outburst had been it, because he hadn't heard much aside from a mention of getting help.

Taking a guitar pick from his newly-stitched pockets (which he'd found were very nice things to have), he began strumming along, singing,

" _One, two, three, four, can I have a little mo-_ "

Kagedansu ceased playing as he distinctly heard someone, the shrieker, smugly proclaim that they had someone else's Ashikabi. He presumed they were speaking on the phone again, since he shortly after heard a scuffle followed by an angry snarl of not being able to call back.

The Shadow Sekirei sighed. Of all the booze stockpiles in all the cities in all the world, they just _had_ to pick this one, didn't they? Well, no point in waiting around for the inevitable bedlam; might as well go sort this out now.

Leaping a few buildings over to stash his guitar, he then descended to the ground, his baggy black pants fluttering in the salty sea air. Putting on his best "Hi there, neighbor" face, he strolled up to the outside office door. Stealthily picking the lock (with his fist), he made his way inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi was up on a skyscraper when she spotted a shape leaping about the docks a few blocks down. Knowing it to be a Sekirei, and from its attire she knew it could only be the loud-mouth Kagedansu, she was about to pursue when she caught sight of another form, headed to the same destination. This one was much closer to her, only a block away, traveling in a similar manner. Her Sekirei eyes allowed Tsukiumi to make out bladed claws worn on the newcomer's hands.

 _One of the Discipline Squad,_ she pondered. _Why woult they… A battle, pray tell?_

That had to be it. 'Twas the nature of the Sekirei to battle one another. It would do well for her to observe such a conflict, that she may be better prepared to face the winner. Another time, of course, for the fall of a helpless opponent was no victory at all. And many strong combatants remained, though in the end, all would be defeated and she would take her rightful place atop the pillars of eternity. Only one would stand on the post-battle arena, and that one would be her, standing tall, standing alone, standing triumphant.

 _But be that as it may_ , she thought, _only a dullard woult eschew a chance to inspect one's competition._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Benitsubasa tossed the crushed phone away, rendered a useless piece of plastic and wires by Minato's foot.

"You don't get it," she said dangerously. "I can put you in a world of hurt, buddy, with literally one snap of my fingers."

"No, _you_ don't get it!" Minato shot back, lying sideways on the ground. "I'd never put my friends in danger just to save my own skin."

"Geez, where did _that_ come from? Last time I checked you were as gutless as that crybaby, Number 95."

Minato looked her straight in the eyes. "It came from you guys, that night on the bridge."

Benitsubasa tilted her head, then snorted. "I was wrong. You're _just_ as annoying as that idiot, Number Eighty-Eight."

"Excuse me," came a booming baritone, "I know it's none of my business, and I know it's a bit of an inconvenience…"

The speaker stepped into the light, a large hand over his eyes.

"But would you mind moving your kidnapping," he swatted the air with his free hand, "somewhere else?"

If Minato wasn't in danger of having his limbs broken, he might've laughed out loud.

"I don't know who's involved in this," Kagedansu continued, "and I probably don't want to, but there aren't any other boats around with the same horn and, surprisingly enough, I'm _not_ in the mood for a Sekirei battle."

As The Red Sekirei looked on at the newcomer, the wheels in her head finished turning. Her face twisted in disgust, then into jealousy.

"You're one of this loser's Sekirei, aren't you?"

"Which loser?" Kagedansu asked, splitting his fingers to allow him a peek through. "Oh, hi Minato-san."

"Hey, Kagedansu-san," Minato said.

"You getting kidnapped?"

"What if he is?" Benitsubasa sneered. "Gonna do something about it?"

Minato wasn't about to give him the chance. Using his own face for support, he pushed himself to his knees, stood up, and took off running.

"Hey!" his abductor shouted. "Get back here!"

 _Like Hell,_ Minato thought.

Number 67, meanwhile, continued to stare through the split-fingered hand on his face.

"Alrighty then," he shrugged, pocketing his hands and following along.

Minato could only run so far before he stumbled and fell, his body still recovering from his concussion.

"Nothing from you?" The Red Sekirei asked, slowly walking towards him. "Where'd all that confidence go, huh?"

Minato resisted the urge to call on Kagedansu's aid, tempting as it was with the Shadow Sekirei aimlessly strolling along behind them. Instead, he picked himself up and took off again, rounding a corner and doubling back by diving through a gap between boxes. He ran in the opposite direction, hoping to gradually increase the distance between himself and the Discipline Squaddie and give himself a chance to run for the exit.

That was when a clawed hand looped around his waist, slicing his shirt along with his abdomen.

"Geez, you took your sweet-ass time, Haihane," The Red Sekirei barked, running up behind her teammate.

"That show I was talking about," Haihane said, not taking her eyes off of Number 67, "I had to record it."

"I swear," said Benitsubasa, "if it's not one pain in my ass-"

"What vile hypocrisy is this?!"

The three looked up at the sound of the voice, emanating from the skylight about. As Tsukiumi leapt down to the ground, Kagedansu chose that moment to speed forward, grip the gauntlet that held Minato, and backhand its owner. Having loosened her grip, The Shadow Sekirei tossed Haihane through some empty shelving. He then shoved Minato behind him as he redirected Benitsubasa's incoming cross, pinwheeling his hands and sending her to join her partner with a smack of his open palm.

Minato, meanwhile, found himself stumbling face-first right into Tsukiumi's exposed cleavage. His tied hands kept him from pushing himself free of the compromising position, as comfortable as it was. All he could do was look up as Tsukiumi's whole head turned red as a thermometer. In a flash, he was off of her, a bright pink handprint tattooed on to his face just above the gashes Haihane's claws had left in his neck.

He was seeing stars, but managed to steer himself around to his feet. The two interlopers were now standing side-by-side against The Discipline Squad.

"Another one? How many Sekirei does this guy have?" Number 105 demanded, standing at the opposite end of the aisle.

"No, wait!" Minato called. "I haven't winged either of them, so just let them go and don't hurt them!"

Tsukiumi was taken aback by this. She could understand why this man would not want her harmed, as she was still a prize for him to win, but what of the other, 67? He already had an Ashikabi. What could Sahashi-san possibly gain from his safe departure? Her train of thought was interrupted when she realized her power had been called into question.

"I can't leave now," Kagedansu said, crossing his arms. "That just wouldn't be sportsman-like."

"Likewise, neither shall I," Tsukiumi said. She channeled her vexation into an accusatory finger, pointed at the two cheaters. "Sekirei are to only join in battle with other Sekirei. Targeting Ashikabi is strictly forbidden! Hast thou forgotten the very laws thou art meant to enforce?!"

"Please, you really think I care about that?" The Red Sekirei said. She tightened her grip into a fist, angered at being spoken down to. "This dweeb's Sekirei beat me on the bridge and grabbing him was the easiest way to get to her. I got a major bug up my butt, and the only treatment is some good old-fashioned revenge."

"I'm starting to see the appeal," Haihane muttered, rubbing her fresh bruise with the back of her gauntlet. She came to stand alongside her partner, casting a death-glare at 67. Kagedansu responded with a muttered, "Serves you right."

Minato felt a stone hit the bottom of his gut. It seemed that despite his objections, those cared for were about to be put in danger once more. And just like last time, there was nothing he could do but sit back and watch.

The duo of blonde Sekirei that stood in the middle glanced at each other, before readying themselves. They had their own grievances with the other over past things said, but neither was willing to have it out at the moment. One thing they both agreed on, however, was that the Discipline Squad needed to be taught a harsh lesson for their transgressions. Targeting an Ashikabi was a cowardly move, and to see the Discipline Squad wantonly dismissing their duties for petty grudges was just disgusting.

Opposite their position, the incomplete Squad shook off their aches and likewise adopted combat stances. These two thought they were hot stuff? They'd soon find out why _all_ Sekirei, single numbers included, respected them.

However, as the two sides came together, each member having chosen their opponent, neither Tsukiumi nor Kagedansu suspected that the ensuing battle would _not_ be the most meaningful thing to happen to them that day. They each had their own date with destiny, and the day would be a day that neither of them would ever forget.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

I think you can all guess what's coming up next, and I ain't talking about two drunken Sekirei slurring at each other. As always, more reviews are always appreciated. They motivate me to write, because a review, be it positive or negative, is a sign that you care.

And before anyone gets all on my case about how inaccurate this is to the source material, know that yes, the foghorn in the anime _was_ , in fact _,_ sounding a D note. You should know better than to doubt me.


	34. An Unorthodox Wedding

And thus was battle joined.

Haihane and Benitsubasa, trained to work together, also charged together. Kagedansu pinwheeled his arms and steered away the razor-sharp death that clawed at him while Tsukiumi used her waters to catch a punch that could shatter concrete. Haihane continued her assault as Kagedansu gave ground, the Shadow Sekirei steering away from the other fight and allowing the two of them some space. Tsukiumi, meanwhile, matched her opponent's aggression, summoning dozens of water droplets and sending them at The Red Sekirei like a hail of bullets. Benitsubasa crossed her arms in front of her face and fell back, the droplets tearing small holes in her clothing.

Kagedansu finally had enough of wax on, wax off and snapped a punch at Haihane. She weaved aside and carved a Roman numeral "III" along Kagedansu's exposed ribs. He planted himself and swept his leg around for a spin-kick, but was forced to hop on top of some shelving when Haihane ducked his foot and slashed at his other leg. She eagerly followed, anxious to shed more blood, and to find some more interesting footing.

Tsukiumi was faring better than her double-digit counterpart. Benitsubasa had used the crates as cover from Tsukiumi's Water Arrow attack (as Number 9 called it) and tackled the blonde through the shelving. As Number 9 fell to the ground, Benitsubasa tucked and rolled sideways to her feet. She smugly kicked Tsukiumi in the face with the boot of her heel, prompting the proud Sekirei to give the pink-haired upstart a cannonball blast of water. Benitsubasa stumbled back, blinking fluid out of her eyes as Tsukiumi came at her with a liquid sword. She caught the blade between her hands and turned it aside, stomping a foot between Tsukiumi's clavicles. Number 9 gave way and called a rushing torrent to her, ordering it forward with a gesture at her opponent.

Tsukiumi then spared Sahashi-san a glance, though she wasn't sure why. He was still standing there, but it appeared that Number 67 had bought himself enough time to leap down and tear up the ropes that bound the human's hands. He still fought with the other one, Haihane, behind the two. For her part in this violation of the rules, Number 104 didn't appear to be at all interested in actually harming Minato. Said Ashikabi's widened in alarm, and he pointed at her.

"Tsukiumi-san, behind you!"

"PULVERIZING CANNON!"

Tsukiumi barely managed to duck out of the way in time, avoiding the sphere of energy that shot from Benitsubasa's hand. The projectile continued on its course, Minato managing to get out of the way before the speeding death reached the two behind him. Had it been a direct hit, the Shadow Sekirei and possibly even The Blue Sekirei would've kissed their crests goodbye then and there. As it was, he'd managed to move himself just far enough out of the way to merely be swept up like a ragdoll in a hurricane. Haihane was caught by it, too, in the middle of leaping down to slash at Kagedansu's turned back. Her cry of surprise was drowned out by the rumble of the attack, blasting her and her foe into the back of the warehouse. The Pulverizing Cannon's had been a short but impactful life as it fizzled out, the two finding themselves buried beneath strong-smelling cargo.

Benitsubasa was already in motion, flipping to land behind Tsukiumi and make a go for her crest. Number 9 turned herself around sent more Water Arrows at her foe, forcing The Red Sekirei back. She then thrust her hand high, her arm becoming a maypole for her waters.

Watching her from the front, Minato was oddly enough _not_ fixated on Tsukiumi's perfect bosom, but on her face. She was having the time of her life in this battle, so thoroughly satisfied by her opponent's equally savage ferocity. It took his breath away; it was like a Valkyrie had come to life straight out of Viking legend. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of his mother (scary thought), but the sight of her made his heart swell, and though he couldn't tell it, Tsukiumi was feeling the same way at the moment.

Benitsubasa, for just a moment, felt her courage falter before Number 9's ironclad stare, and she fell back to where her partner lay, covered in boxes. Tsukiumi's watery tendrils followed her, snapping at Number 105's heels like a baying pack of hounds. Benitsubasa unleashed another Pulverizer Cannon behind her as she went, scattering Tsukiumi's attack to raindrops and forcing Tsukiumi to seek cover.

Nearing the site of the explosion, her hand flew to her nose from the noxious miasma.

"Ugh, that stink! You _reek_ , Haihane!"

Number 104 sat up, wobbling side to side like a punching clown.

"Wow, that wurz _way_ too mussake…"

Beside her, Kagedansu sat up.

"Don' go tellin' _me_ how much I can 'ave!" he slurred, swinging a finger around like he was trying to draw something in the air. "I-know-my-limi', thank-you-very-much!"

Minato chose that moment to make a break for it, hoping to draw Benitsubasa away from Kagedansu before she could take advantage of his obliviousness.

"Hey, come on, the guy's getting away!"

A miniature tidal wave crashed into the three of them, washing them out with the spilled booze.

"Clear thy head of thy intemperance, Sixty-Seven!" Tsukiumi barked. "A battle is no place for drunken miscreants!"

Kagedansu didn't seem to notice, because he cupped his hand out in front of him and stared at it.

"Di' someone leave the roof open? 'Cause it feels like rain."

Haihane was equally oblivious. "Ooooh, cannai dry off? I'm star-'in feel alil lite-"

That was when Haihane, in an attempt to massage her temple, accidentally poked herself with one of her spiked claws. Her scream seemed to get through to Kagedansu, because he turned to address her.

Sounding like he was gargling marbles, he let out a slooow, drunken, "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ** _HI!_** "

"No, iss akshully 'Haihane', Number Four-Oh-One, buh-iss nise t'mee' yuu, tuu," she replied.

Benitsubasa was pulling at her hair, and not just to wring out the water.

"Just shut up and fight him, Haihane!"

"Fie who? Ooh, hello," she said, swiping at Kagedansu with her claws.

"Aaaaaaaaah fellow Drunken Master, huhn?" he belched, swaying back to avoid the sweep.

"No, Karassba iss mazzter of the Dissibline Squaw," came the reply as Haihane climbed to her feet.

"But what she didn' realize was that _I_ learned Drunko Fiss… **WHILE SOBER!** "

He made a few half-hearted jabs at Haihane. They didn't even come close, because Kagedansu was slowly tipping back as he did so. As he fell to the ground, his ascending foot clipped Haihane's jaw and sent her stumbling back. Another screech followed as Haihane once again forgot she was wearing pointy steel gauntlets.

"I know I'm down here for a reason…" The Shadow slurred as he rolled aside, inadvertedly dodging Haihane's flying stomp and causing the Blue Sekirei to lose her balance. She sliced a bit of shelving trying to steady herself. Kagedansu sat up, cross-legged and stroking his bare chin. "Now wuh was it?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It finally dawned on Kazehana just what that loud "BWAAHHHM" sound had been over the phone: the horn of a ship. This meant that Benitsubasa had taken her hubby down to the wharf somewhere, probably in one of the warehouses.

"Kazehana!"

The Wind Sekirei broke from her revelation at the sound of Musubi's voice, coming from the front door. Kazehana opened her eyes and there she was, out of breath and slightly worse for wear.

"Wow, talk about perfect timing!" Matsu commented, nearly tripping over herself coming down the stairs.

"Matsu located Big Brother!" Kusano squeaked.

"Yeah, Benitsubasa took him to Warehouse 5, on the eastern pier!"

"That means the other one's probably there, too!" Musubi said. "Number 104!"

"So, the two of them working together, huh?" Kazehana asked, placing her bottle of sake to her lips, but decided it would be better to show up sober.

Matsu placed a knuckle to her chin. "If that's the case, we'll need to think of something fast..."

"What's to think? All we need to do is go there and get Minato back!" Musubi said. A gust of wind ruffled her hair.

"Race you there!" Number 3 shouted, already out the door.

"You're on, Kazehana!"

"Wait, hold on!" Matsu cried. But it was too late. Musubi was already in hot pursuit of her fellow inn-mate.

"Have they forgotten about the bridge already?" Matsu asked worriedly. "The Discipline Squad almost trounced them, Musubi especially!"

"Don't worry, Matsu!" Kusano said, puffing out her chest. "They'll get those two for taking Big Brother!"

Matsu sighed. She wished she shared Ku's enthusiasm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two battles raged. One was a fight to the death between Tsukiumi and Benitsubasa, the younger Sekirei's trained martial artistry allowing her to close the gap in power between herself and the single number. Their attacks were vicious, Tsukiumi constantly giving ground to keep her distance and maintain her advantage of range, with Benitsubasa was in constant pursuit. She fired off Pulverizing Cannons whenever Tsukiumi left her reach; when the distance shrank, fist met sword in a ferocious melee.

The other fight was more a drunk Three Stooges routine being reenacted by Kagedansu and Haihane; the only one missing was Moe. Kagedansu kept waveringly dodging Haihane's claws, stumbling out of the way or ducking at _exactly_ the right moment. It was obvious to Minato that he wasn't really paying attention. His survival was either through sheer luck or because the Shadow Sekirei was secretly a wizard. Kagedansu was instead picking up sake bottles scattered about the floor and examining them before tossing each away.

"No... No... No... No... Aha!" He found one that seemed to please him, holding it out and showing it to Haihane. She stopped fighting momentarily, until Benitsubasa yelled at her again, at which point The Blue Sekirei begrudgingly resumed her swing, slicing the bottle to pieces and spilling sake all over the floor.

Kagedansu's face scrunched up with despair. "Now why did y' _do_ that?" he sobbed.

The Red Sekirei had once again caught up with Tsukiumi. She blasted the ground with a concentrated shockwave that almost struck Minato, who'd been so enraptured by Tsukiumi's prowess that he'd forgotten he was standing behind her.

Tsukiumi wiped the perspiration from her brow, her breathing starting to pick up.

"I must admit, for an impudent rule-breaker, thou makest a worthy foe."

"What's this?" the Red Sekirei jeered. "Trying to talk your way out of this, Ms. Melons?"

"Nonsense!" Tsukiumi shot back. She then folded her arms and turned her nose up at her opponent. "And thou shouldst take heed of thyself, _little shrew_."

"Little…?" That's when Benitsubasa felt an odd breeze against the right side of her chest. She looked down and saw, to her horror, that Tsukiumi's water sword had torn a hole in her black uniform, exposing her pitiful excuse for a breast. Benitsubasa screamed and quickly covered up, leveling a daggered glare at Minato.

"You saw it, didn't you?!"

"Saw what?" Minato sputtered nervously.

"My right boob!"

"Well, I wasn't really looking, but maybe just a quick glance…"

At this, the previously hardened Number 105 began to tear up. "No… I can't believe it, a man other than Natsuo saw my chest…"

A shadow fell over her eyes. "You're dead."

"… Wah?"

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" screeched The Red Sekirei.

 _Damn thy honesty, Sahashi Minato_ , Tsukiumi thought as she moved to intercept Benitsubasa's leap. On the other hand, she found it admirable that even when faced with wrath and ruin, he was still truthful. He'd make a good husband.

Tsukiumi caught herself being steered towards emergence as she caught Benitsubasa's berserker fist on her water shield. She would decide who was worth being winged on, not her Sekirei core. So instead she refocused her efforts on her opponent.

"I told thee already: thy battle is with me, lowly trollop!" Tsukiumi declared. "Or dost thou believe the human a more even match for thee?"

" _SHUT UP!_ " Benitsubasa screeched, ducking under Tsukiumi's defense and hammering her face with a vicious cross. Tsukiumi's water shield lost cohesion from the blow and allowed The Red Sekirei's knee access to her gut. The Water Sekirei was thrown back against a steel shipping container, seeing stars in front of her eyes. As her vision cleared, she saw the panting form of The Red Sekirei, her eyes now matching her nickname, but closer was Minato's face.

"Tsukiumi-san? Tsukiumi-san, are you alright?!" his voice echoed. She shook her head, her vision clearing.

"Thou hast no need to concern thyself with my-" She winced as she tried to stand up, pain flaring up in her gut.

"You're hurt!" he exclaimed.

"And there's more where that came from!" Benitsubasa called. That was when Haihane and Kagedansu's drunken excuse for a battle rejoined the trio's own conflict, stumbling between Number 105 and her victims. Kagedansu immediately slipped on a bottle and fell sideways. Haihane swung around and took one step before she fell right on her face.

Kagedansu's hand was still hooked 'round her ankle. "Waaaaait, don' leave me!" he whined.

"Come on, get up, Haihane!"

"Sooooo sleepy…" burbled The Blue Sekirei.

"Rrgh! You are so _useless_ today!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Out in the middle of Neo Tokyo, in a lavish house in the uptown district, the discarded number Akitsu felt a creeping tingle crawl down her spine. Her innermost fears of being rejected, being thrown away again, resurfaced, and she did not know why.

On instinct, she navigated the house, seeking out her master. She found him relaxing in the study, in the seat of an exotic European armchair. The Ice Sekirei glided across the floor to where he lay. He sensed her approach but did nothing to stop her, knowing that Mutsu was nose-deep in a book to step in had she been an intruder. The young lad did nothing as she slipped her arms across his chest and pressed her cheek to his, closing her eyes and soaking up his warmth.

"What is it, Akitsu?" Mikogami asked groggily.

"Hey, no fair!" barked another feminine voice, coming from the open door. In another moment, Mikogami found himself up to his eyeballs in purring women, all of them subtly fighting to grab a part of him.

"Mutsu, help!" he cried as his chair tipped back and crashed to the ground, leaving him buried in Sekirei.

Mutsu looked up for a moment, noted that the expressionless Akitsu was struggling just as hard to snuggle up to Mikogami as the rest of them, and then returned to reading.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato ran over to Tsukiumi, taking her hand and keeping his eyes on the otherwise amusing scene playing out only meters away. "Now's our chance!" And knowing Kagedansu's powers, Minato was certain the aptly-named Shadow Sekirei could escape at his leisure.

Tsukiumi didn't register his words at first, too taken by his expression was she. That and the heat in her body was raging out of control. _His eyes… Such fire in them…_

He noticed she wasn't responding. "Let's go!"

Tsukiumi temporarily forgot who she was and nodded.

"OH NO YOU DON'T! EXTREME…"

Benitsubasa's fist met the ground, and the ground lost.

"QUAKE!"

Tsukiumi found herself thrown forward as the roof caved in and brought rubble raining down. She spun around and saw Minato pinned under a mound of steel, blood flowing freely down the side of his face. He'd pushed her out of the way, not tackling her like before when the Veiled Sekirei had angled a shot at her heart (literally), but leaving himself in harm's way just to get her out of it. It was too much for her to cope with.

"Why didst thou do that?!" she shouted angrily. "I am not thy Sekirei!"

"Doesn't matter…"

His words floored her. Every pent-up bit of frustration Tsukiumi had held, both at herself and at this human, dissipated in an instant.

"What?" she whispered.

"It's got nothing to do with who's anyone's Sekirei." He forced speech through pained lungs. "That night on the bridge… It was so awful. And all I could do was stand back and watch while everyone was almost killed."

He hacked a cough. "Well, never again. No one else is getting hurt because of me."

Time seemed to slow to a stop as Tsukiumi allowed Minato's words to simmer in her mind, turning them over and over in her head, trying to find some way that his actions could fit into his hidden desire to wing her. He was an Ashikabi. That's what they did. They sought Sekirei and claimed them to add to their collections, like little more than trophies. True, Minato was a cut above the rest, but he'd even said himself, the day of their first meeting, that he needed her power. So how did nearly throwing his own life away play into that? In the end, she could only reach one conclusion.

 _What a fool I have been._

Water puddled around Minato's prone form. It then exploded to life, casting aside the rubble that pinned him down. He looked up at his rescuer as she knelt down in front of him, laying a hand on his cheek and guiding his gaze up towards her own.

"Tis strange…" she spoke tenderly. "My feelings, which I mistook for my body deceiving me, have now been made clear."

She broke eye contact with him, her lip trembling and her cheeks bright red. "Minato-san, dost thou… Still want me as thine own?"

Minato took a moment to process just who it was that was asking him what, and he slowly nodded his head. Tsukiumi caught his response from the corner of her eye, and pulled him to his feet. Her haughty demeanor reasserted itself.

"Very well! I, Number Nine, Tsukiumi, accept thy proposal to wed!"

"Wed…?" Minato asked. He suddenly found himself grabbed by the shirt collar and his face within kissing distance of an angry blonde's.

"Thou _didst_ call me thy Sekirei that day, _yes?!_ " Tsukiumi seethed.

"Yes, ma'am! Absolutely!" Surprisingly, he actually _did_ remember saying that, and meaning it. Unadulterated terror could do amazing things to someone's memory.

Benitsubasa, having watched the scene unfold with jealous eyes, now realized was about to happen.

"PULVER-"

She was cut off by Kagedansu knocking her foot out from under her. She was momentarily distracted by the other Sekirei levitating a jump that saw the back of his elbow connect with her chin. Regaining her footing, she saw that he was suddenly very stable and very sober-looking. A moment after she tossed him away, two hardened arms wrapped around her waist and suplexed her backwards into the ground. She recovered quickly enough, and her new fight continued.

"You're next, kid!" she snarled at Minato.

Tsukiumi's eyes widened, then a shadow fell over them. "Know this…"

Minato felt himself shrink a little, being so close when she looked like that.

"From this day forward, no one may harm Minato but me!"

And with that, she kissed him.

The heat within her cooled into soothing vapor, condensing inside of her and flowing down to her feet. It continued to rise within her, wondrous rapture triggered by her materializing bond with her beloved Ashikabi. No, her _husband_. She felt herself pitch forward as her tongue began dancing inside Minato's mouth. Even after the wellspring had completely reached its limit, it continued to swell.

 _This wondrous feeling… So this… Is emergence._

Tsukiumi sighed in contentment, her tongue-dance growing more and more feverish inside of Minato's mouth. When his own tongue slid around hers and returned her passionate embrace full-force, her body finally reached its limit and the joy she felt burst from her back into a pair of ocean-blue wings, making her skin tingle with pleasure. To think she had denied herself this for so long; Tsukiumi might've cursed herself for her ignorance if not for the fact that her newfound love was making such anxieties impossible to form. His kiss just felt so _wonderful_.

Finally parting lips with Minato and opening her eyes, Tsukiumi realized that the fever of their winging had infected her legs and carried the two of them up against a steel storage container. She turned on her heel to address the Discipline Squad.

"Now…" she asked dangerously, her hair waving like a nest of serpents, "Just what _didst_ thou plan to do to my husband?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"That's the one, right, Kazehana?"

"Looks like it!"

Their connection with their Ashikabi had told them he was hurt. From there, they'd gone all-out in their race to reach him. It was no longer about who got there first, they had to rescue him from whatever terrible things were being done to him. Kazehana had barely spared a thought for all the things _she_ would do to him, once she could find some time alone together, to help heal his emotional injuries. Musubi was going to ask Miya for a really hard training session, both to punish herself for losing her Ashikabi, and to help protect Minato better.

The Sekirei were one jump away when a huge geyser of water erupted from the roof of the warehouse. It tore through the sheet metal like paper, lifting two forms into the air and flinging them all the way to the other end of the harbor, far out of sight. Minato's would-be rescuers gave each other a hopeful glance that said, "Do you really think…?" and cleared the final stretch. Landing on the roof and peering inside, both of them were filled with glee at the sight of their Ashikabi, battered but very much okay. The sight of Tsukiumi rather possessively clinging to his arm was icing on the cake.

"Ah! Tsukiumi-san, did it finally happen?!" Musubi shouted excitedly. Kazehana couldn't help, resting a fist on her hip, but smile.

Minato chuckled nervously. "You wanna tell them, or should I?" he asked his newest Sekirei. Tsukiumi said nothing, merely hugged his arm tighter while glaring at the other two.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at his spot on the roof, the three women and their Ashikabi having moved out to the docks, his guitar in hand once again, Kagedansu resumed his song.

" _Five, six, seven-eight-nine-ten, I love you._ "


	35. Vows Reaffirmed

"-and sent them away with her… What do you call it, Tsukiumi?"

"The proper term is 'norito'," the blonde replied.

"Yeah, that. And now she's, well-"

"I'm his wife," Tsukiumi said simply, folding her arms beneath her ample bosom. She was looking at the other two but facing Minato. From the way her arms squeezed her breasts, it almost looked like she was offering them up to him. Maybe it was the unbidden image of a naked Tsukiumi blinking into his thoughts, exactly as he remembered her from his first dream, but Minato started to feel a little light-headed.

"Wah?! Hold on a minute..." Musubi put her hands to the sides of her face and stepped away, lost in shock.

"So that's how it is, hm?" Kazehana said sardonically. Minato was distracted from worrying about the dark haze that hung over Musubi's sulking form when Kazehana pushed herself against him and gave him a big, wet Frencher on the lips.

"Mmmmmh…" Her moan of pleasure and emerging wings dispelled any thoughts of her not enjoying it. Her tongue thrust forward and rolled around in his mouth, slurping him up to fuel the furnace of her Sekirei core. Her Ashikabi's taste-muscle began retaliating in kind, lengthening the high Kazehana was experiencing. Emergence was a rapture that, in Kazehana's opinion, could only be topped by taking it a few steps further. But she wasn't going to enjoy herself like that out here, tempting as it was to tear Minato's clothes off and drag him to the ground.

Instead, she decided to enjoy Tsukiumi's reaction to her raunchy display.

"Sh-Shameless!" the Water Sekirei sputtered, pointing in shock at the woman who held her husband captive. Her namesake swirled to life around her. "Get thy hands off my husband this instant!"

Kazehana broke from the kiss, but not because Tsukiumi demanded it.

"I thought I told you," she said authoritatively, a whirling wind tunnel surrounding her form, "only three people get to order me around like that, and the last time I checked, you're neither Minato, Number One _or_ The Gamemaster."

"Thy memory hath not failed thee, nor do thine eyes," Tsukiumi boomed, spreading her arms and preparing to unleash the gathering monsoon. "We shall settle this here and now!"

" _Stop it!_ "

The roaring elements dispersed as both women were caught off-guard by Minato's harsh tone. Or, rather, as close as he could come, as he was starting to sound somewhat winded. That and he was still Minato, so "harsh" for him wasn't really that harsh.

"Look," he said weakly, "we're all together now, and we're going to have enough problems with other Sekirei picking fights with us, so can you two at least _try_ to get along?"

The two single numbers eyed one another, then looked back at him.

"I'll do it for you, Mina-kun," Kazehana said lovingly.

"Likewise, my husband," Tsukiumi conceded, folding her arms once more.

That was good enough for him. Minato had a feeling they'd still get on each other's nerves, being near polar opposites on just about everything he had to compare between them. Except, of course, their looks; both women were absolutely gorgeous.

Then Minato noticed that his third Sekirei was still sulking off to the side.

"Hey, uh, Musubi?" he asked, striding over to her and laying a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she stammered. She started shaking. "Because…"

Out of nowhere, Number 88 spun around and flung her arms around her Ashikabi's right limb.

"I just found out that I'm your wife, too!" Musubi shouted happily.

"Minato hath only one proper wife, and that wife is me!" Tsukiumi barked, claiming Minato's other side in an effort to pull him away. It didn't work.

Kazehana vaulted over the struggling trio and leaned her mountainous breasts into Minato's back, winding her arms about his shoulders.

"I'd say Minato's spoken for in the 'wife' department," she said suggestively. She pressed her cheek to his neck and looked up at him. "What do you think, Mina-kun?"

Minato remained silent on the matter, to the puzzlement of his gathered Sekirei. A moment later, his body went limp in their arms and his head lolled onto Tsukiumi's cleavage.

" **Minato!** " three horrified voices cried.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, at MBI Tower, Benitsubasa stomped through the front door of the suite she shared with her teammates.

"This isn't over…" she growled.

"A simple defeat would've gone better…" Haihane muttered from behind.

" ** _What was that, Haihane?!_** " Number 105 screeched.

A wrecking ball was dropped on Haihane's head, or at least that's what it felt like. "Not so loud, Red," she groaned, clutching her cranium. She even remembered her gauntlets this time, her head still throbbing from all the sake. And all the times Number 67 had punched it. And when she'd prodded herself with her talon. And the surprise nap she'd taken after falling on her face. And the hard landing she'd been subjected to after Number 9 sent the two of them flying to the other end of the harbor.

Benitsubasa's grumbling continued as they entered the living room. Their leader was on the couch, polishing her sword.

"So, how did it go?" Karasuba asked in her usual cheerful yet oddly chilling tone.

"Wrong," Benitsubasa said grumpily, "In every possible way."

"Well, that's too bad," The Black Sekirei sighed, inspecting her reflection in the blade. Haihane caught her captain's hungry glare as she stared at herself, but The Blue Sekirei didn't pay it any mind. She didn't even bother changing out of her sake-smelling clothes. Her day had already been half-ruined, and now she was going to make it up to herself.

Haihane yanked off her gauntlets, set them aside, sat down in front of the TV and started up the video player beneath. It seemed her Ashikabi cared enough about her to do as she'd asked, because as soon as she'd switched on the monitor, she was greeted by a familiar golden skull, floating in space, wearing its golden horned helmet and speaking in its sinister baritone.

" _These are the tales of the Skeleton Warriors._ "

Haihane sat back and enjoyed the rock music of the theme song as Baron Dark and his lackeys blew right by the camera on their flying motorcycles. No _way_ was Red going to pull her away from this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato awoke in a hospital bed, feeling a bandage wrapped around his head. The slow process of opening his eyes allowed him a heads-up for the heated argument going on by his bedside.

"Get thee hence! His real wife shall comfort him!"

"I'm his wife, too, ya know!"

"You guys," Minato coughed, bringing their debate to a halt, "is this what I'm going to wake up to from now on?"

The two women were now leaning on either side of his bed, their faces a hand's breadth away from his own as they hugged him close.

"Ah! You're awake!" Musubi exclaimed.

"Art thou well, Minato?" Tsukiumi asked worriedly.

"Yeah," he wheezed. "Though my ribs are still kind of tender…"

Tsukiumi was quick to release him, though she wished she could've clung to him a little longer. Musubi was slower on the uptake, as she was still crushing her Ashikabi to herself.

"Thou art hurting my husband, Musubi," Tsukiumi said, her eyes dourly shut. "Kindly cease."

"Oops!" Musubi cried, snapping her hands away from him. "Sorry, Minato."

"It's okay, Musubi," he said, grasping her soft hand with his own. Musubi took it and pressed the palm to her cheek, closing her eyes and leaning her head into it. Neither of them noticed Tsukiumi's angry glare.

" _Minato…_ " she seethed, her fingers curling into a fist.

The door to the room opened, putting Tsukiumi's wrath on hold (for a little while). A familiar white-haired but youthful-looking woman entered the room, clad in her usual lab coat and carrying a clipboard and pen.

"Finally awake, I see," Takami said to her injured son.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Minato asked.

The two Sekirei looked at one another, then back at Minato.

" _'Mom'?!_ " they cried simultaneously.

"That's what he said," Takami said quietly, looking at her clipboard.

"Wait, then that means…"

"Thou art Minato's mother, Takami-sama!"

"Brilliant deduction, you two."

"Wait, so," Minato said, "how do you three know each other?"

"Not one Sekirei is ignorant of thy mother, Minato," Tsukiumi said, looking somewhat hurt by that blow to her intelligence. Did her husband really think that she, a Sekirei, wouldn't at least be familiar with MBI's Chief Scientist?

"Takami's even given _me_ adjustments!" Musubi said. "And she was great at it, too!"

"You're flattering as always, Musubi," Takami remarked. "As for your first question, Minato…"

She looked up at her son.

"I oversee this facility. It's an MBI-run hospital, dedicated to the treatment and research of Ashikabi and Sekirei. We collect data from their battles, their injuries, their recovery, as well as any growth they may have exhibited in terms of physicality or power. Don't worry about paying, Minato, MBI's footing the bill."

Personally, he found it odd that Minaka would take the wellbeing of his "players" so seriously as to devote an entire hospital solely to them. If the man wasn't so clearly out of his mind, Minato might've mistaken him for being charitable.

 _Oh wait,_ Minato thought. _Sekirei that get hurt can't fight well, and Minaka's all about spectacle. Why else would he send out that email about Ku?_

"And these two," Takami continued, gesturing to the present Sekirei with her pen, "along with Kazehana, were kind enough to get you here lickety-split. It's good they did; any longer and you might not have made it."

" **What?!** " the trio exclaimed simultaneously.

Takami looked down at her clipboard. "You had a minor head injury, and a few of your ribs are cracked, but more alarming was the internal bleeding. It was relatively small, but without treatment it could've easily been fatal."

She looked back up.

"And now it's cured."

"Man, that's a relief," Minato sighed, sinking into this pillow. "How long have I been in here for?"

Musubi pressed a finger to her chin and examined the ceiling. Then she beamed at her Ashikabi. "A couple hours."

"That fast?!" Minato exclaimed, jolting up before his ribcage flared up and he clutched his side.

"Calm thyself, Minato!" Tsukiumi barked. Minato nodded submissively and lay back down.

"Six hours and forty-seven minutes, from the moment you checked in," Takami affirmed, eying the timestamp on her reports. "You can thank the Sekirei for that. The technology we used on you was experimental, recovered from our findings on Kamikura Island."

"Wilt my husband remain here much longer, Takami-sama?" Tsukiumi asked anxiously, sitting on side the bed. Minato wondered if he was the only one who noticed that Tsukiumi's thighs were rubbing together, ever so slightly.

"Well, with proper care, he should be out of here in an hour or two, maybe less," Takami said. "At the rate he's healing, those ribs will have mended in a few days."

"In that case, I'll go get some fresh towels!" Musubi said, standing up and taking as she circled around Minato's bed and went out the door. Tsukiumi was about to object until she realized that with Musubi out, she could at last have her husband to herself, her new mother-in-law notwithstanding.

"Minato," Tsukiumi said as she stood up, "as thy wife I will not abide by thee throwing thyself into danger as thou did."

"But, Tsukiumi-"

"Hush," said his wife, laying a finger on his mouth and staring him down with her ironclad gaze. "Thou art my husband now, and as thy wife I shall see to thy safety. I told thee before: no one may kill thee but me, Minato, and to that end I shall become the strongest, that none shall lay a finger on thee."

Her gesture reminded Minato a little bit of his mother, in regards to _both_ things it implied. Unbeknownst to him, Takami was thinking the same thing.

"By the way, Tsukiumi…" A wicked grin split Takami's face. " _Now that you're married to my son, you will address me as '_ _Okāsan_ _!'"_

Minato could almost hear the sound of Tsukiumi's jaw dropping. "Mom, come on!" he protested. "She's my Sekirei, not mmyyyee…"

His voice trailed off. He knew how much fierce pride Tsukiumi had taken in being his self-proclaimed wife (she'd harnessed it to single-handedly beat the Discipline Squad, after all). To hear him dismiss the idea, so soon after they were, well, "married", would probably shatter her.

 _Besides_ , Minato thought, looking over Tsukiumi's stunning form, still knee-deep in shock, _some guys would kill to have a woman like her._ The former ronin-turned-student was once again reminded of just how lucky he was.

"What a horrible blunder I have made!" she cried. She stood up and bowed her head towards her senior. "I apologize for my discourteous demeanor, Takami-sama. I mean…"

She started to tear up a bit in shame.

"Okāsan!"

"I was just kidding, Tsukiumi. I'm not _that_ uptight, you know," Takami said dryly, turning away and re-examining her clipboard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Musubi was returning with fresh towels when she heard Tsukiumi's angry screech from inside.

"How dare thee make me believe I'd offended my new mother-in-law!"

"Urgh! Tsukiumi, take it easy!" This was Minato's voice, followed by his grunts and yelps. He sounded like he was trying to wrangle his newest Sekirei. After a moment, she calmed down, but then was right back up again.

"Did I tell thee to release me, Minato?"

 _Aaaawww,_ Musubi thought adoringly. She was about to enter when she felt someone appear behind her.

"Hello there, Mu-chan."

"Oh!" Musubi chirped as she recognized the voice, and turned to address it. "Karasuba-sama! Why are you here?"

"I just came to check on an old friend, to see how she was holding up after a fight with Haihane."

That's when Musubi's bright expression dimmed a little. She smelled something on the other Sekirei, and she didn't like it. It was the coppery tang of blood, faint but unmistakable.

"You killed someone, didn't you, Karasuba?"

Karasuba's eyes suddenly widened as the rush of the kill reignited her blood. Musubi suddenly found herself against the wall, Karasuba's face uncomfortably close and the handle of her nodachi prodding her left boob.

"Now you listen to me, Mu-chan," Karasuba murmured, barely able to contain herself. "I need you to get stronger, strong enough to wipe out Haihane and Benitsubasa, strong enough to take out the single numbers, even your friends. Because unless you do…"

The pommel was pushed further against Musubi's gi-bunny.

"We won't be able to keep our promise to each other, and you'll never see the way things are. If Haihane could give you a run for your money, then that means you're still weaker than me, and hate is still stronger."

Karasuba leaned in, making Musubi's unease that much greater.

" _Get me?_ "

Musubi wasn't afraid of Karasuba, though if they had to fight, she didn't want to do it right outside where her Ashikabi recovered. Her reckless actions had nearly cost Minato his life; she wasn't about to make the same mistake twice in a day.

Then Karasuba mercifully backed off, and her casual demeanor returned. Musubi heard someone run down the hall and enter Minato's room.

"But for now, let's just keep killing Sekirei," Karasuba smiled. There was no warmth to that smile.

"Level Four?! Are you sure?" Musubi heard Takami-sama yell. She muttered a farewell to her son and Tsukiumi, and then was out the door, the messenger and her racing behind Karasuba as they went.

"Huh," Karasuba sighed. "I must be losing my touch." She then slid her nodachi, still in its scabbard, back into her sash, departing without another word.

"Goodbye, Karasuba," Musubi uttered, more as a courtesy to herself than to her former friend.

She was also upset that Karasuba's distraction had caused the warm towels she'd brought for Minato to grow cold. This was easily fixed. Her respect for Number 4? Not so much.


	36. Welcome Back

Kusano was asleep on the couch, her big brother still not back from the hospital.

Kazehana had arrived home without Musubi or Minato, much to the worry of her inn-mates. She assured everyone that Ku's big brother was going to be okay, that she had every confidence in his safe return. They'd gotten him to the hospital and the doctors were going to fix him right up, so there was nothing to worry about. If anything, his recovery just gave one more reason to throw that party.

Matsu had suggested taking a nap if Kusano wanted to be nice and awake for the whole affair, since it was expected that Minato's other Sekirei (particularly his two single-numbered ones) would keep Minato up until he passed out from exhaustion. So Ku had curled up on the couch and willed herself asleep, and there she'd stayed all afternoon.

She was awakened by a knock on the door, the sound of Matsu and Kazehana giggling and murmuring to upstairs the only sign of life in the inn. Eagerly, she hopped off the couch and ran up to the front entrance.

But looking around, she noticed that the Inn wasn't quite the Inn. The chip in one of the hallway floorboards was fixed, and the paint on the wall was completely smooth, with all the little bumps it usually had now gone. The curly phone cord wasn't tangled up like it always had been, but it didn't matter. He big brother was home! She was about to let him in when suddenly the light in the hall flickered off. Kazehana and Matsu's voices were cut off in an instant, and a black light began to shine through the cracks around the door. And then, it spoke.

"Kusanooooo…" came the wispy call. "I know you're there _somewhere_."

She froze, her blood turning to ice in terror. She knew right away she was caught in another nightmare. Panicking, she let go of the knob and clicked the deadbolt into its slot, locking it firmly in place, and braced herself against the door. _Ha!_ Now The Eyes were locked out of the house, _forever!_ She wasn't going to let it in, so they could stay out there and… Do whatever you do when someone locks you out! But then, she had to wonder. Every time The Yellow Eyes appeared in her dreams, they were always the ones in control. This was her dream, her head! She'd _make_ them go away.

She closed her dream-eyes and concentrated really hard, just like she'd done when she'd made the phone ring that day. She felt a shift, not really something she could say specifically, but she just _knew_ something had changed. Opening her dream-eyes and looking around, the lights were still off, the Inn was a little more Inny, but the black light from under the door was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to figure out the lighting situation when she realized, looking around, that all the light switches had disappeared off the walls.

"You know, it's rude to keep someone waiting on the front step," the outside lurker jeered.

Kusano felt a tingling in her back and instinctively dove behind the phone table, beneath the stairs. Cowering behind it, she saw a black mass ooze out from the crack under the door, its liquid shadow spilling up along the wood until it had swirled itself into its bulky humanoid shape. She wanted to run, but she was afraid that if she didn't keep watching it, it might creep up and pounce on her. At least here, it was on the wall, and she could run from it if it _did_ come after her.

As if it could sense her thoughts, that was when the shadow began pushing out from the door. Its hand reached for her, the wall stretching like rubber as it tried to hold it back. As it peeled itself free, its inky self became outlined in violet, its eyebrows and mouth now visible features. As it completed its step into the third dimension, it stretched its arms and curled its fingers, flexing its new muscles and feeling the vigor within them.

"Yhaaaaaah… It feels good to move around," it rumbled. It then noticed she had seized up. One of those hairless eyebrows curled itself upward.

"Why so afraid, Kusano?" it asked. Its smug look told her that it already knew the answer; it just wanted to hear her say it. "I've done nothing to harm you, so why cower?"

"You're a bad man," she squeaked, her body finally unwinding enough to let her move. "I won't let you hurt my big brother!"

The potted plant on the table sprung to life like she asked, and it grew into a huge vine to swat away the intruder. The plant sent it back into the wall, splattering it into mush before it began to pull itself together. She asked the flower to hit it again, but when the vine touched the wall, The Eyes slithered their way up the side and sprung out in front of her. It reached out with tendrils of darkness and ensnared her in its fingers, hoisting her off the ground until she was face-to-face with it.

"Three mistakes were made," it said, its tone having gone from humorous to chastising. "The first was assuming that simple tactic would hinder me, the second was assuming I was ever human-"

"Go away!" she squeaked.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure _that_ would stop an intruder," it sneered sarcastically. "In a pig's eye."

"Just go away!" she bawled, starting to cry from the fear she felt, huddled in a corner.

She felt its smirk calm to a simple smile, and it stood over her stoically, like a general inspecting a captured prisoner. She scrunched her eyes shut and started to whimper out for her big brother to come in and beat the mean man up.

And then, completely ridiculous as it seemed, she felt its hand stroke the top of her head.

"There there, child," it whispered, its sympathy marred by some hidden secret its tone said it was keeping. "I'll be gone soon enough, and then you'll neeever have to see me in your dreams again."

If not for the delight it took in tormenting her, she might think it was trying to be nice.

Kusano heard the rumble of thunder, and the hand lifted off of her head. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the shadow was no longer there, but back near the door, looking up at the ceiling. Cracks started forming along the walls of the Inn, and they crumbled upward to be sucked into a howling overhead vortex. Night had fallen in her dream, and black lightning, outlined with violet just as the monster was, crackled overhead.

"Right now, actually!" it gleefully cried.

The lightning descended, snatching up the figure and carrying it into the void that awaited above. As it was swallowed up, Kusano finally jolted herself awake.

Her head wasn't resting on a pillow, but on a meaty leg, one that wore loose, wrinkly black pants. Ku looked up and saw a towering black-clad form looming over her, his calm yet caring expression a welcome sight to greet her.

"Bad dream?" Kagedansu asked. "You kept telling someone to go away. I hope you didn't mean me."

Her nerves shot, she unloaded all of her nightmares onto the large Sekirei: the Yellow Eyes, her dreams, what they said to her, all the way up to when they'd grown a body and disappeared into the black lightning bolt.

"Well, _he_ sounds like a real jerk, just letting himself in like that," the large Sekirei sneered. "And tearing up Asama-dono's nice Inn! He better not try that for real, because if he does, the landlady's gonna fold, spindle and mutilate him."

Kusano felt a little better at this, and not just from Kagedansu's casual dismissal of the figure. Kagedansu was right: those eyes wouldn't bother her. She had everyone else to watch out for them: Kazehana, Musubi, Matsu, Miya-dono, Uzume (hopefully), and, of course, Kagedansu and Big Brother. If it came poking around here, oh boy oh boy, would they ever be sorry.

But its parting words still bugged her; not _what_ it said, but how. Why would it be happy to leave, especially after it spent so long haunting her?

There was a knock on the door, but this time all the little scratches and smears of the room, things that even Miya's diligent cleaning couldn't get rid of, were all present and accounted for.

"What you waiting for?" Kagedansu playfully scolded, pushing Kusano off the couch. "Get over there, you lazy bum!"

She crawled to her feet and shot Kagedansu an adorably angry look which forced him to choke back a rising fit of chortling. It wouldn't do for Ku to think he was bullying her.

She inched her way over the front, reassured when Musubi walked past the door to the living room. Kusano gathered her courage and rounded the corner, and there he was.

"Big brother!" she tearfully cried, running up to him and hugging him about the waist. After what she'd just gone through, he was _exactly_ who she wanted to see.

"Hey! He is mine, thou brat!" objected the woman next to him.

Ku's tears dried themselves in an instant, and there stood something she _didn't_ want to see: that lady from the other day in the alley, standing next to Minato. She had her hands clenched at her sides and the snakes in her hair were all agitated. Who did she think she was? To give her a better idea, Ku blew her a raspberry.

"Now, guys, I don't want to end up in the hospital again just after getting home!" Minato nervously said. His plea fell upon deaf ears.

"Then tell her to share!" Ku piped up.

"A wife does not 'share' her husband with a child!" Tsukiumi chided.

"I'm his wife, too, ya know!" Musubi called, leaning back to peek around the corner of the hall.

"Dost thou even know what being a wife entails?"

"Sure I do!" Musubi enthusiastically shot back. "Well, maybe I don't… But whatever it is, I know I can do whatever it means I have to do!"

Big brother's face did an impression of a tomato, and Kusano didn't know why.

"Enough of this!" Tsukiumi declared, water beginning to materialize around her. "Let us settle this matter as Sekirei!"

"Me first! Me first!" Musubi called. She came running into the hall and quickly set herself into a combat stance. If there was a fight, she was going to be in on it.

"5, 4, 3…" Matsu's countdown was matched by each step she took down the stairs, smirking in anticipation of what was to come.

Right on cue, the budding battle was interrupted by a spatula appearing out of nowhere and smacking both women on the head.

"That's quite enough out of you two!" Miya snapped, her disapproval shaming the two women into submission. "Violence will not be tolerated in my inn as long as I run it."

"Okay, Miya-sama…" Musubi whimpered.

"And you?" Miya asked, casting her hanyo mask at Tsukiumi. For the first time since meeting her husband, Tsukiumi's nerve wavered.

"Well, tis said that when in Rome, doeth as the Romans," Tsukiumi said, closing her eyes when she failed to maintain eye contact. "I shall abide by thy laws, landlady-dono."

"Wonderful," Miya beamed, her hanyo mask replaced by a warm, welcoming smile. She moved past the emerging form of Izanagi, coming out of the bathroom, and back into the kitchen.

"Huh," the younger Ashikabi grunted. "Did I miss something?"

"Nah," Kagedansu answered. "Just another reminder that Miya's terrifying."

The gathered members of Minato's group, Tsukiumi included, all nodded in agreement.

"Wait a second," Minato asked as the six moved into the living room. "Where's Kazehana?"

"Hmph, she did not see fit to remain by thy side," Tsukiumi said, folding her arms beneath her chest. "She returned here once thou wert receiving proper care."

Maybe she'd been waiting for the right moment or it was just sheer coincidence, but at that moment a nubile female form vaulted over the bannister and landed in front of the stairs, clad in an apron and literally nothing else.

"I wanted to wear something special to welcome my husband home!" Kazehana said.

Blood exploded from Minato's nose and he collapsed in a heap.

"Wow! That outfit is _super_ sexy!" Matsu said, noting the areas that accentuated The Wind Sekirei's figure. This was something she could use when she got around to experimenting with Minato.

"What outfit?!" Tsukiumi cried, shocked and dismayed at both Kazehana's shamelessness as well as her proclamation. "She's practically naked!"

"So, what do you think, Mina-kun?" she asked, standing over him.

Kagedansu, his eyes somehow able to tear themselves from the sight of Kazehana's display, leaned over and mumbled something to his Ashikabi. Izanagi closed his eyes and nodded in agreement. But their opinion wasn't the one being asked for.

With Ku and Musubi kneeling beside him and ask if he was okay, along with the silent sound of Tsukiumi's teeth grinding, Minato knew he had to choose his next words carefully.

"Well, I'm not exactly the best judge of fashion," he stammered.

"Oh, really?" Kazehana insincerely sulked. "If you don't like it, I could always…"

She knelt down and straddled his legs.

"Take."

Her barely-contained breasts pressed against his chest.

"It."

The lustful heat in her breath caressed his face.

"Off."

 _CLONK!_

Minato thanked his lucky stars for Miya's timing, because he was afraid that Kazehana might've stripped him down right there and rocked his world with everyone (including Ku) watching.

Miya smiled dangerously at her amorous tenant and the hanyo mask returned. "Lewd acts are not to be committed at The Izumo Inn."

"Um, Miya? I got the message, loud and clear," Kazehana stammered. This was enough to satisfy the landlady, who commanded that Kazehana change into something less suggestive, lest Minato get lustful urges again. Minato demanded to know what she meant by "again", as did Tsukiumi, but Miya kept her silence.

"Hey, speaking of girls who'd look great in naked aprons," Kagedansu asked, leaning back and resting his hands behind his head, "where's Uzume?"

This provoked teasing smirks from several parties (including his smaller brother, surprisingly enough); Kagedansu returned them with a puzzled look of his own. He was just stating the obvious.


	37. A Different Kind of Offer

On a completely unrelated note, the day after the last chapter was posted _Sekirei: Fear of the Dark_ broke 20,000 views. I don't know if that's significant, but it's definitely a number.

Sincerely,

The Author

* * *

Uzume grimaced as the voice on the other end of the phone calmly chewed her out.

"I get it: they're both targets," she seethed, angrily pressing a palm to her forehead. "But look at it from my position: if I move on them here, his other Sekirei will get involved". She paused to hear the caller's response. "You forced me to ditch the rules when I became Higa's personal thug. You really think Numbers Nine and Three would stick to them?"

Disregarding Kazehana's knowledge of Uzume's alter-ego, that last bit was sort of a lie. She honestly had no idea how Tsukiumi would react to the news of her being the assassin. Though from their only encounter, Uzume's feeling of dread was probably justified. She paused again, listening. "Yes… I know he takes care of Chiho, and I'm grateful for that. But that doesn't make this any easier."

Pause, after which Uzume let out a frustrated growl. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. Just tell me the next target."

After getting a solid description of the unfortunate Sekirei that was to be The Veiled One's victim, Uzume heard someone approaching down the hall. Quickly she hung up the phone.

"Uzume? I didn't know you were in."

"Oh! Hey, Kazehana!" Uzume beamed at her inn-mate-turned-secret-rival, who was standing in the doorway. "What's up?"

"Miya said I couldn't wear this for the party," The Wind Sekirei sulked, tugging at her apron. She trotted over to Uzume's closet. "Mind if I borrow something?"

Kazehana knelt down and began sifting through the costumes.

"Now, what could I wear to make Minato one happy hubby?"

Looking at the elder Sekirei, Uzume noted she her back was completely uncovered, along with-

 _Her Sekirei symbol._ _If I touch it, and say the incantation…_

Uzume's mounting concern for her Ashikabi compelled her hand forward, drifting nearer and nearer to Kazehana's crest. Her hand was close, so very close, to her Ashikabi's continued survival.

"Oh, by the way…"

Uzume stopped and quickly pulled back as Kazehana turned to address her.

"Kagedansu's downstairs looking for you."

Uzume's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"He's here?"

Kazehana chuckled at her friend's sudden anxiety. "And chewing on the furniture in anticipation. Maybe _you'd_ like to wear something for him," Kazehana teased, pulling at the shoulder strap of her apron. "I know he'd liiike iiit…"

"Really, we're not… like _that_ ," Uzume said, getting ahold of herself. "I already have someone, and Kagedansu has his own Ashikabi."

"That's true," Kazehana conceded, finally finding an outfit she liked and beginning to disrobe. "Except he doesn't swing that way."

"Well, he'll have to make due with someone else, then. It's not that I don't like him, it's just… Well…"

"Don't wanna betray that special someone?"

"In a nutshell," Uzume said, scratching the back of her head.

"The way I see it, if Minato can make time for all five of us, and I know he'll find a way even with Nine here, you've got nothing to worry about, hun."

"Except we're Sekirei. We _only_ have one person to be with. That's it."

"Sekirei were meant to fall in love," The Wind Sekirei sighed, clasping her hands together. "And I know both of us have plenty to spare. Besides, I'm sure Kagedansu wouldn't object."

"But what if he knew about, you know, my 'job'?"

Kazehana paused at this, her decorative corset about halfway to being tied. She shook her head.

"I can't say. I don't hold it against you, but I have a feeling that he and Tsukiumi are sticklers for the whole 'give your name and number' part of the rules. I don't mind as much since you always keep the fights to single matches, but still…"

Uzume nodded in agreement.

"He's an honorable fighter, even if his ability is to turn invisible and sucker-punch his opponent."

"And you're the voice of experience on that?"

Uzume felt the left side of her ribcage groan a little. _They_ remembered him, or rather, they remembered his foot. And she remembered the subsequent tussle, Kagedansu managing to turn aside most of her bladed clothes with his hands and get away with only a few scratches, though he was left completely on the defensive. That is, until she'd latched on to his wrist and stuck him in the arm, at which point he'd grasped the blade, locked it in place to stopper the blood flow, and lashed out high with his foot. She'd blocked it with her veils, but this had turned out to be a ruse; he'd used the first kick to raise her guard high. He had quickly planted his other foot on her abdomen and sent her flying back.

"I'd say more than most folks," replied Number 10.

"Well, I'm sure he'd understand," Kazehana said, standing up and close to her friend, "if you would just tell him why."

Uzume knew her friend enough to guess that Kazehana had someone else in mind to shoulder her confession. And it wasn't Minato, either.

"It's not something I'd like to talk about," Uzume said.

"Alright. But don't let it get too out of hand. I don't want to embarrass you any more than that first fight."

" _Thanks, Kazehana_ ," Uzume said sarcastically, though she was joking, too.

"Well, what are friends for?" Kazehana said sweetly.

Uzume's eyes trailed to the side and she became lost in thought. Kazehana decided to leave her friend to her musings and went into the upstairs bathroom. She twirled her perfect hourglass figure around in the mirror, marveling at the treasure she'd discovered. It was a showgirl outfit, complete with a plume of peacock feathers, that covered up only as much as it needed to. Her flat stomach and sexy legs were still free to flaunt themselves (as Tsukiumi would no doubt call it), while her bust was bound by a half-corset that left as little to the imagination as her usual purple dress.

 _Minato's going to_ _ **love**_ _this,_ she thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi sat on the rooftop, away from all the hubbub below. Musubi had explained to her that they were preparing for a party to celebrate the successful escape of Number 95 and her equally spineless Ashikabi, hence the inclusion of Number 67 and his counterpart.

But the party? Hmph, Tsukiumi scoffed at the idea. Never mind a Sekirei who wished not to fight, but celebrating the flagrant violation of the rules? What was her husband thinking? Twas something she found irritating at best, so why…

She clenched her trembling fist. "Why doth my fury rise to the fore at thoughts of such cravens?"

"I think I might know," the landlady said from below. Tsukiumi was impressed by her hearing. She'd been speaking to herself, and anyone who watched would think that Miya had been occupied with taking the laundry off the line.

"Landlady-sama?" Tsukiumi inquired. The purple-haired woman about-faced to gaze up at her newest tenant.

"'It's not fair that she gets to live happily-ever-after with her Ashikabi while you, a stronger Sekirei, remain behind'," Miya disserted. "Could that be what's bothering you?"

Tsukiumi pondered on this a bit, then spoke up.

"To be frank, such matters were of no concern before I wed Minato. My goal was to become more powerful, that I may prove no need for an Ashikabi."

"And now?" Miya asked.

"My course remains unchanged: to be the strongest, that I may remain by Minato's side forever," Tsukiumi declared.

"Well, if that's the case," Miya said, turning back to her work and finishing with the laundry, "would you like my help?"

"With respect, Asama-dono," Tsukiumi said, vaulting off the roof and landing in the yard, "how couldst thou be of help to one such as I?"

"Take care of this," Miya said, handing the Water Sekirei the basket she carried, "and I'll show you."

Tsukiumi naturally wanted to object to being forced to perform chores, but three things stopped her. The first was that bearing something as light as clothing from the outdoors to the indoors was trivial at best, made more so by her being a Sekirei and thus far more physically gifted than a lowly human. The second was that Tsukiumi knew if she objected, Miya would no doubt rear her hanyo mask, and Number 9 would end up doing what she wanted anyway. The third, and the most compelling of all, was the fleeting hope that maybe, just maybe, the Landlady might be telling the truth. Obviously she knew what Sekirei were, and Tsukiumi had already displayed the amazing strength of her legs, so Miya-sama couldn't _possibly_ be ignorant of her power. Really, what did Tsukiumi have to lose? At worst, a few minutes of precious time, time otherwise spent stewing in her own juices.

Miya, meanwhile, had returned inside and found Musubi lying on top of Minato in the kitchen, Musubi's breasts blinding her Ashikabi, Minato's assurance that Musubi had merely slipped and fallen reaching deaf ears. A mild thrashing had ensued, as it always did, with Miya getting the chance to break in her new spatula. After she'd washed it off, to the sound of Minato and Musubi's sorrowful groans, Miya had asked Musubi to keep an eye on the stove and rice cookers while she attended to Tsukiumi. Kazehana had appeared, wearing an outfit that was just as revealing as the last, and Miya had tossed her an apron and asked her to help. Kazehana had objected, of course, having just changed _out_ of an apron and wanting, no doubt, to sneak away to violate Miya's second male tenant. But Miya knew Kazehana could cook; she delighted in making Ms. Public Obscenity run circles for her vulgar displays.

And so Miya had returned to the outdoors, sword-in-sheath, sheath-in-hand. Tsukiumi's arms were impatiently folded beneath The Water Sekirei's cleavage.

"Now let's see how strong you really are," Miya said, sliding her sword out and adopting a neutral stance: her sword firmly grasped, the blade at a diagonal out in front of her. The only unorthodox thing was that her sheath remained clenched in her left hand.

"Very well! _**Water Celebration!**_ "

Tsukiumi's go-to attack snaked around behind her and rushed at the Landlady, who remained completely unfazed by it. To Tsukiumi's surprise, her response was to point her scabbard at the oncoming geyser and jab it forward. The water exploded as it neared her, breaking against an invisible sphere of force and spraying all over the yard, saving Miya the trouble of watering her plants.

Tsukiumi stood gawking at the unassuming landlady as she flipped her sheath around and snapped it at a downwards diagonal. A massive crater appeared in the ground, the residual force buffeting Tsukiumi with the gale that it conjured. Suddenly, Miya was beside her, in the middle of a full-tilt sprint.

"Never take your eyes off an opponent," she chided condescendingly.

The blade, neglected until now, flashed, and Tsukiumi felt something tickle her skin all over.

Miya came to a full stop in an instant, standing behind the Water Sekirei.

"You have power, but you're too focused on your offensive capabilities. It also seems that you lack close-range training, so if a strong enough Sekirei can get close to you, you'll probably find yourself in trouble," the Landlady said, sliding her sword back into its sheath. "It seems I have a lot to teach you."

The hilt clinked against the scabbard's throat and Tsukiumi's clothes suddenly exploded off of her body, leaving only her panties and nylon leggings.

 _Landlady,_ she thought, awestruck, _who art thou?_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It seemed Uzume had really been upstairs the whole time, avoiding everyone for some reason. It was Kagari who'd managed to bring her down, because if _he_ was going to suffer through a wild party, then Uzume would suffer with him.

It also seemed there had been a slight error in communication, because Kagedansu hadn't brought any CDs or players with him. Instead, he and his Ashikabi had brought a pair of electric guitars and two 25 Watt amps.

Izanagi had issued a disclaimer before he started to play: "If I suck, feel free to shout it on the rooftops. Wouldn't be the first time."

However, much to everyone's surprise, sans the boy's one and only Sekirei, Izanagi had some pretty solid guitar-playing skills. No one except Kagedansu and Uzume (who was a metal aficionado herself, it seemed) knew what the songs were, but judging by how Musashibo-san's fingers were dancing over the fretboard, these were not easy licks to play.

And not only did Izanagi not suck at guitar work, but Kagedansu wasn't a half-bad singer, either. He could hit some pretty high notes despite having a resonant baritone. It almost didn't seem natural, hearing a high, youthful voice coming from such a large frame. Yet there he was, going a full two-octaves above his normal speaking voice without the lightest bit of strain on his vocal chords.

All the while, Minato's Sekirei were enjoying themselves immensely. Minato himself spent the majority of the party caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Musubi and Kazehana. Matsu had gotten hopelessly drunk after challenging Kazehana to a friendly competition, and had started to get a little too friendly with Kagari. The bishounen had simply placed a hand on her forehead and tipped her backwards, Matsu falling back into Minato's lap. She'd made herself comfortable quickly enough, which made Ku steam and demand her big brother play the drinking game with her. Minato had tried to explain to Ku that she was too young to be drinking sake, but he'd required help from Miya to convince her. It wasn't that the hanyo mask was needed, just a second voice of reason to assure Kusano that Minato wasn't favoring anyone.

"But I wanna play, too…" Ku pouted, crossing her arms in a huff and sitting on a cushion.

"Ku, take it from me, sake is no joke," Kagedansu said, having taken a break to rest his vocals, his fingers, and his posterior while devouring some of Miya's extraordinary cooking.

"I dunno, Kagedansu," Matsu said jokingly. "From what Minato tells me, seeing you fighting while hammered is hilarious."

" _Lies!_ All of it! I never touched… I never _drank_ a drop of it!"

"I can vouch for him on that," Uzume said playfully. "Kagedansu doesn't get drunk. He gives 'drunk' a pass and goes straight to 'out cold'."

Kagedansu hunched over. "Say it a little _louder_ , why don't you…" he grumbled before downing a shot and hiccupping.

"Well, if you want me to apologize, I will…" Uzume held up another sake cup. "If you can beat me in a drinking contest."

"A smart fighter picks his _own_ battlefield!" Kagedansu declared, leaping on to her and spilling sake all over himself. The two tussled about the floor to the cheers of the party-goers, sans Minato and Kagari (and Izanagi, who seemed incapable of it, though a glance in his direction, at the right time, would reveal him quietly coaching his larger foster brother). Despite Izanagi's assistance, Uzume managed to come out literally on top, pinning Kagedansu beneath her legs and twisting an arm behind his back.

"Had enough yet? The night's still young," Uzume teased.

"Not at all. Feel free to apologize at any time," the Shadow Sekirei replied.

"That wasn't part of the deal, you."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure about that?"

 _KONK!_

A wooden spoon smacked Uzume on the head, leaving a lump.

"Rough-housing is a lesser offense, but it's still violent behavior," Miya said. With that, she turned and went to get more food.

"Hey! What about me?" Kagedansu called, still on the floor.

Miya turned back and eyed the sight of Number 10 sitting on top of Number 67's waist.

"I think you've learned your lesson already," Miya said, smiling.

"Well, maybe I'm feeling left out! Ever think of that?!"

A wooden spoon flew from the kitchen and caught him right between the eyes.

"Now what would you go and do _that_ for?" he sulked. He'd somehow acquired his Ashikabi's ability to sound insincere and yet totally sincere in the same breath. He pushed himself to his feet, Uzume back-rolling off of him.

"I don't have to put up with this!" he declared; had that not been his first shot, coupled with Uzume's account of his lack of tolerance, one might have assumed him already wasted. He made his way to the hallway door and slid it open. "I can just take my business, and my guitar, and my brother if there's still daylight, and go right out the door, and-"

"Except the party's not over yet," Izanagi said blandly.

"Oh yeah!" the Shadow Sekirei realized. He spun around and came back inside. "I just wish Nine would join us. _She_ knows what a good time is!"

 _Tsukiumi?_ Minato thought. Guided by instinct, he went over to the sliding door and peeked out into the hallway. She was standing alone, approaching him, her eyes covered in shadow and her mood looking very sullen.

"Tsukiumi?" Minato asked, sliding out of the door before closing it behind him. "Why don't you come in with us? It'll be a lot of fun."

"Nonsense," Tsukiumi said. "I've no need to celebrate spineless cravens."

Still bent out of shape over Kuno and Shigi's escape, it seemed. As she stepped into the light, Minato noticed that she was covered in scrapes. Not only that, but her black dress was dirty, and her white underdress had been torn about the bust, leaving her left breast exposed if not for the hand that covered it.

"Tsukiumi, you're hurt!"

"Tis of no concern," Tsukiumi said. "A scratch, nothing more. Rejoin thy other Sekirei. Tis clear thine interest lies with them, not I."

"I would, it's just that…" She stopped, waiting to hear what he had to say. He could sense her growing more distant, her outsider attitude unmended by her winging. Minato hoped to fix that, because Tsukiumi wasn't exactly someone who was easy to make friends with. He wanted her to open up and get along with everyone else, just like he did.

"You're my Sekirei, too."

She perked up a little, ever so slightly, before sinking back down.

"Minato, thy revelry hath been planned for some time…"

She paused before continuing.

"But tonight, by loathsome jest of fate, is also our wedding night."

Minato didn't quite know where she was going with this as she finally turned to face him.

"Tell me…"

Tsukiumi took her hand off of her exposed breast, giving Minato a full view of it. Or rather, she would have, if he wasn't standing there gawking at her as she guided his hand with her own on to her breast, centering the palm over the nipple. Minato couldn't believe how soft it was, like a silk cushion filled with light, fluffy feathers. He tensed up and unintentionally gave it a little squeeze, causing a blush to appear on Tsukiumi's face as she met his gaze with her beautiful, sea-blue eyes.

"Dost thou wish to make love to thy wife?"


	38. Rainmaking

Minato stood there, his right hand over Tsukiumi's tit, gazing into her eyes as his mind processed what she had just asked of him: to give into temptation, to take leave of the festivities, to risk the wrath of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Disobeyed by disregarding her most hardline rule, to sneak off with the woman who had been haunting his dreams and consummate their unofficial marriage.

 _Dost thou wish to make love to thy wife?_ Several impossible realizations hit Minato with all the ease of the express freight. Firstly, he was fondling one of the largest and fullest dress-kittens that he was likely to see on a woman, _any_ woman, in his entire life; second, it belonged to a gorgeous naiad straight out of Greek myth, perhaps even lovelier; third, said blonde beauty was calling herself his wife; fourth, that she was the very same blonde had throttled him and even tried to kill him at one point; finally, all of that in mind, that she was asking _him,_ Sahashi Minato, to perform the Dance of Spring with her.

The gears in Minato's head ground to a halt, and his whole body tensed up as it strained to get them running again. The tension caused his hand to squeeze a little tighter, drawing a mewling whimper from his Sekirei as her eyes slid shut, her body trembling as a soft gasp escaped her lips. It was the sweetest sound he could imagine right then, so honest and so cute, that the only thing he could say to something like that was-

"You coming back?"

"WAH!" Minato practically leapt out of his skin, having completely forgotten where he was. He looked over his right shoulder and saw that Izanagi was poking his head out from the living room, eying the sight of the two standing in the hallway. It took a moment before Minato realized his right hand was grasping empty air.

Tsukiumi was now standing a short distance away. A dark cloud rumbled over her head and her back was to him.

"Weakness…"

"What?" came her Ashikabi's reply.

Tsukiumi lurched around. " ** _A moment of weakness, nothing more!_** " This marked Minato's second out-of-skin experience that evening. "Thou had best forget it!"

She shuffled back, laying down a finger in his direction.

"And if thou dost not forget it… I will _end_ _thee!_ " With that, she was gone, down the hall and out of sight.

Minato sighed. If living with his mother and sister had taught him anything, it's that no _way_ was he capable of approaching a woman in the state Tsukiumi was in (the fact that Tsukiumi had the same temper as his mother not helping, either). Nothing to do now but give her some space and get back to the party. Then he ran smack-dab into a chest-high wall.

Wait… No, it wasn't a wall. It seemed that Izanagi teaching sincere insincerity to his brother had been an exchange, and the price had been Kagedansu's ability to become an immovable object.

"Where are _you_ going?" the stone-faced youth asked, his features shifting enough to look annoyed.

"I was just-"

"No you're not." He grabbed Minato by the shoulders and spun him around, pushing him towards where Tsukiumi had escaped. Minato stumbled forward, surprised at how far those skinny arms could move him.

"But, you saw that, right?" Minato asked, looking back at his counterpart. "I think she just needs time to cool off." What happened next was a rare occurrence indeed.

"Minato-san, I'm not going to pretend I know anything more about Sekirei than you do," said the metalhead. "And I'm not going to pretend that I understand your relationship with Tsukiumi-san, because speaking as a complete outsider, it seems really, _really_ complicated. I'm not even going to pretend that I get a lot of girls, because girls to this day stump me at every turn. Just when I think I have them all figured out, they turn around and do something completely unexpected, and I'll be right back where I started, totally lost. So all that in mind, **_go talk to her!_** "

Minato's eyes drifted down, allowing Izanagi's words to simmer in his mind. He honestly wasn't following the kid's logic, but maybe that was it. Izanagi hadn't been there for his exchange with Tsukiumi (or so he hoped, given things that were said), but Minato had been given a glimpse into her tender, loving interior. That was something he'd never expected to see from someone like her, and so caught had he been by the surprise fondling that he didn't even realize it. If he went back into the living room and told everyone about what had happened, only Kazehana would believe him. Then, while everyone else was either taken aback or denying it, she would clasp her hands and swoon and start going on about how Sekirei were meant to fall in love and all that. From what had just happened, Minato was starting to believe it.

"Seriously?" said Minato.

"Yeah. Seriously." Aaaand it was back to five words or less. Izanagi took out his wallet and, after rummaging through it, pulled out a small, flat object. He examined it in the soft light cast by the paper door, then tossed it to Minato. The former ronin caught it in his left hand.

"Just in case," said Izanagi, before heading back inside and shutting the door behind him.

Minato remained puzzled by what exactly was implied, until he got a feel for the square object in his hand. Looking down, he noted the foil packaging, the outline of a ring-like object sealed within.

It was a condom.

The memory of Tsukiumi's breast returned to Minato's hand, causing its fingers to reflexively curl a little, grasping at softness which was there no more. All the blood in Minato's body rushed to his face, causing a crimson splatter to shotgun from his nose before he collapsed to the floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu heard the thump out in the hallway beneath the sounds of the ongoing party. He paid it no mind, for his fingers had finally stopped hurting and he could get back to making with the sweet musics. Kazehana had just conjured another bottle of sake, and the race was on to see who among her, Matsu and Uzume could stay conscious the longest.

Izanagi already had a song in mind, because as soon as his guitar was plugged in and the amp switched on, he started a riff. Not the most complex, considering other tunes in Iron Maiden's library, but the song itself was unique in that it managed to be positive without losing Maiden's signature edge. It was actually Kagedansu's favorite, and until the Landlady put a stop to it, he was going to put his all into singing hard and singling _loud_.

" _When I was wandering through the desert and was searching for the truth, I heard a choir of angels calling out my name…"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Said Landlady was, in fact, coming back in from her garden with some fresh vegetables. Passing the master bathroom near the front of the inn, she heard the splash of water being emptied from a bucket.

"Oh my! I haven't even heated up the water!" she exclaimed. "It must be freezing!"

"No, that's all right," came the shivered reply. "Tis the perfect temperature for me."

Miya frowned, and decided that she'd turn on the heat anyway. No sense in letting the poor girl frost over.

"Is Tsukiumi in there?" Miya turned her attention from the bathroom to a certain lanky Ashikabi on the approach. Instantly, her hanyo mask appeared behind her.

"You weren't thinking of joining her, were you?" she asked.

Minato visibly swallowed. "N-No," he whimpered. "Just talking to her. You know... Trying to figure out why she's upset."

"Then you're in luck, because sound carries quite well through the walls," said Miya, taking her hanyo with her as she returned to the kitchen. Minato let out a sigh of relief. He was glad Miya had scared some sense into him, because after the two previous hallway exchanges, the thought might've crossed his mind to do something, as Miya would call it, "improper".

He hesitated before knocking. He could be marching up to the cannon's mouth with the fuse already lit, and not even know it. Who's to say Tsukiumi wouldn't punch his lights out the instant he spoke up, or worse yet, carry out her threat of bloody murder? This was a superhuman he was dealing with here, albeit a drop-dead gorgeous one, and one false step could see him left in worse condition than at the docks.

Then he recalled Kazehana's words to him, the last time Tsukiumi had run off.

 _When a woman wants a man she likes it when he takes charge._

Well, Kazehana was about as womanly as they came, so Minato chose to trust her. He gently rapped on the door, a difficult thing to do when most of it was literally paper.

"Tsukiumi?" he called. Rather, _would_ have called, if his voice wasn't recovering from the frights he'd been enduring. Unsurprisingly, no response. All he heard was the ongoing sound of a body being rinsed, and a shivered shudder from the lady within. Minato chose to believe she didn't hear him, and so opened the door to the antechamber.

"Keep out! I've no wish to see or speak to anyone!"

Minato's first instinct was to retreat and slide the door closed. He closed it alright, but only to cut off his escape. He had to stand firm, take charge, talk to her. He couldn't do any of that from the living room.

"Well, that's alright. The Landlady doesn't allow mixed baths anyway," Minato joked, a desperate attempt to diffuse his Sekirei's tension.

"And just what dost thou want?!" Tsukiumi snapped. Welp, there went _that_ plan.

"The, erm, the thing is…" Here it was: the moment of truth. He only hoped that his faith wasn't misplaced. "You never let me answer your question."

" _I told thee to forget that!_ "

"I know! I know!" Minato said quickly. "It's just that, well, I can't, not really. I wanna know what's on your mind."

"Twas as I said..." Tsukiumi's voice lost a lot of its fire, becoming somewhat sullen. "My head was not about me when I spoke."

"And not because someone saw us together?"

There was a brief delay before Tsukiumi spoke again. "Nay."

Minato sighed and sat down on the floor. "That's too bad, because honestly, I don't think it's weakness at all."

He hesitated, trying to find the right words.

"Someone," Minato was careful not to mention Kazehana's name, not right now, "once said that you don't need a reason to fall in love. And, yeah, from what I've seen, that's how it works: you don't think, just feel. Honestly, I think it's great that you're so direct about it. Some people go their entire lives without being able to talk about their true feelings, especially when it's most important. They spend so much time thinking about what could happen that by the time they're ready, it's too late. I used to be one of those people, too, so I know how tough it can be. And if it was that hard for you to come out and tell me what you wanted, I'd say you're _stronger_ for it, not weaker. 'Braver is someone who's afraid but pushes on anyway', right?"

There was silence for a moment. Then another moment. Frankly, Minato found it disconcerting. On it went, a never-ending parade of quiet, until finally Minato could stand it no longer. So, he stood up.

"Come on, Tsukiumi! I'm your Ashi- your husband! Talk to me!"

The door to the bathroom slid open to reveal the sight of Tsukiumi. Droplets of water glistened off of her naked flesh, reminding him of the first dream he'd had of her. One hand was over her breasts and the other covered a different area, right between where her pale, silken legs split at the hips.

"Would…" She was blushing furiously, unable to make eye contact for more than a second. But in that second, Minato's onrush of blood had been replaced with a raging desire to hug her tight, nude or not. She was like a kitten who'd just come out of the rain, and every fiber of Minato's being wanted to crush her to him. The feeling was only made stronger when she turned her back to him and shyly looked over her shoulder. Her long hair was unbound, obscuring her face like a curtain.

"Wouldst thou wash me?" She finally found her words. And by all-knowing Buddha himself, she was absolutely adorable.

"A-alright," Minato said, the flood of hormones viciously beating down his better judgement.

He slid out of his clothes and folded them up in a hamper, stealthily depositing the condom he'd received on one of the wooden stools near the door. The last time he'd gotten naked around one of his Sekirei, things had progressed fairly rapidly. But all he was going to do was take a bath, with Tsukiumi, and her round, perfectly-formed curves... and her subdued, huggable demeanor. What could _possibly_ go wrong?

Had his rational mind been firing on all cylinders, Minato might've attempted to bring himself back to Planet Earth. But all he could do was accept the bar of soap and start lathering it along Tsukiumi's arm. She seemed a little disappointed by his starting location, judging by her nasally sigh, but Minato was determined to take his time. He scrubbed his way up her arm and to her shoulders, more massaging than washing. If Tsukiumi objected she gave no sign, quite the opposite actually. A soft purr slipped out, fading as Minato's hands left to refill on suds. Then they returned, slowly tingling down her sides to her hips. Her hair was gathering into a single massive lock that cascaded down her back, the curtains finally pulled back to reveal the absolute perfection that was her body. Minato was still making an attempt to maintain the pretense of bathing, moving his hands in little circles as he "washed" her, but neither of them still believed it.

Tsukiumi's breathing became heavier as Minato moved down to her buttocks, practically grabbing them as he worked her over. Tsukiumi had a very thin layer of softness covering her form that gave her that wonderful feminine feeling, but her butt was where it was all concentrated, his hands sinking into it in their quest to tenderize her. His thumbs pressed her hard, moving round and round, causing Tsukiumi's breathing to grow heavier, more desperate.

"How is it, Tsukiumi?"

"Minato... Husband..." Tsukiumi moaned. It was all she could do to form words between her heavy panting and how his hands were making her mind fade to white.

He felt shivers pass through her as her legs began to fail, and sought to help his Sekirei lest she collapse from sheer titillation. Lathering the soap once more, he started up one leg, sliding his hands up one perfectly sculpted limb, then the other, helping her brace while also making the non-problem even better. On his second ascension, he got a little too close to the pearly gates, the tip of his thumb sliding along the side of it. The caress made Tsukiumi squeak in surprise.

"I'm sorry!" Minato exclaimed, his hands leaping off her.

Tsukiumi's eyes were still wide with surprise, but they eased as the shock of first contact wore off.

"Tis all right. Thou art my husband, after all." She began tying her hair into a knot above her head. "Thou mayst touch me however thy heart desires."

At this, and her posture, Minato couldn't help notice how large Tsukiumi's breasts were; the fact that he could see their curvature from behind only emphasized it. The movements of her arms were making them shake, just a little, like an open invitation. No, more like a temptation. And it was one that neither he nor his male body had any interest in resisting.

Minato's hands moved on their own, snaking beneath her arms and sliding over her erect nipples. Tsukiumi was caught completely off-guard, a tingle running down her body at her husband's touch.

"What art thou... Haah..." Her question perished as a sigh as Minato began to knead her breasts.

"Touching my Sekirei," he whispered, "exactly the way I want." His words, so possessive, so _manly_ , sent Tsukiumi falling into his arms.

He now understood why she'd reacted to explosively to being touched here. Each squeeze and every rotation brought another whimper from her sealed lips, but it wasn't enough for her; she wanted more. She placed her hands on top of his and began moving them more roughly, churning her tits and adding to the haze that was descending over their thoughts. Her breasts were her key erogenous area, her switch, and she was getting more and more turned on.

She began to lean back again, further into her husband's embrace, until something was prodding at her right ass cheek. Slowly, as her body was half-moving of its own accord from the way Minato continued to minister her heaving chest, she reached down and touched it, feeling all the vigor and strength it carried. She took hold of it, guiding it between her legs until it was knocking on her nether-doors, rubbing up against them and sparking something in her loins, small buzzes of lightning to accompany the drizzle that had started. She began writhing in her husband's arms, grinding against him and drawing more floodwaters from herself as his fondling further increased in speed, his mouth diving down to suckle on the side of her neck. Tsukiumi cried out, forgetting the horrifying monster that lurked in the next room, but fortunately for her, the sounds of a different performance drowned out her own.

Tsukiumi turned and her lips met Minato's, a blue light shining from between them. Her whimpers were sent straight into his mouth, further awakening the animal within him. He'd begun to push his way in, the doors of her maidenhood opening a crack, and finally the two could stand their teasing no longer. Minato sank to the ground, carrying Tsukiumi with him, sprawling across the tiles as steam began to form around the bath. Upon landing, Minato admitted a small but audible groan.

"What malcontent is this?" Tsukiumi demanded, pulling free andd inspecting his ached expression.

"My ribs… Still kinda tender," wheezed Minato.

Instantly Tsukiumi was on the case, her mouth latched to his and her soaped-up body sliding along his chest as she leaned into the kiss. With how slippery she'd become, it felt amazing for them both. Her tongue pressed against his lips and parted them, rolling around in his orifice and tasting him. As her blue wings faded once more and the energies of the norito wound down, Tsukiumi parted and leaned back..

"Then I shall fulfill my duty as a wife," Tsukiumi said, "and ease thy suffering."

"Wait a second!" Minato exclaimed, and then immediately regretted it as Tsukiumi hooked her fingers into his shoulders and pulled his face close to her own.

" _Dost thou want me or not?_ " she seethed. Minato surprised her by kissing her again. She ensnared his head with her arms, the tongue-duel going into overtime and her body impatiently gyrating against his.

"Of course I do," Minato said as soon as the separated again. "I just need some protection."

He moved to slide out from beneath her, but Tsukiumi wasn't about to let him escape, not when she had him all to herself. She took a quick look around and spied what he sought, a tendril of water carrying it over to her. Normally, such a task would've been difficult to manage, but with something so light, and while drunk on the potency of Minato's love, it was nothing.

"It's not that I… Well, I just don't think I'm ready for parenthood, that's all," Minato explained, taking it from her hand. Tsukiumi nodded, though she silently vowed that after she won the Sekirei Plan, their childless marriage would change.

He took the ring out of the packaging and slid it on, the lapse giving Tsukiumi enough time to grow nervous for what was about to unfold.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Once again, her shyness asserted itself and she couldn't bear to meet his gaze.

"I am… I am but a maiden, Minato," she said shakily. She felt her husband grow more excited beneath her, despite what he said next.

"If it's a problem, we could finish our bath."

"No!" Tsukiumi practically shouted the word. Then her shyness returned, and she looked to the side. "Rather, I wish thee to have it... My first time..."

Minato placed a hand on her face, steering her gaze back to him. She leaned forward, her hips rising above her husband and readying themselves for him.

"It's a wonderful gift, Tsukiumi. Thank you."

Tsukiumi's eyes began to weep with joy. "Oh, Minato..."

Suddenly, they became one at the loins, Tsukiumi feeling her husband's throbbing heartbeat through their connection. The drizzle had become a deluge, all of her want pouring forth as Minato parted the way. She stopped as she felt him pushing at a certain wall, and braced herself as best she could for what was about to occur.

"Minato… I give thee everything!" she declared, pushing down and feeling her virginity disappear. Quickly she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the cry of pain that came from her. The crimson tide slid down the side of Minato's hip and swirled down the bath drain, marking their marriage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the party, the 11-minute-long epic of heavy metal known as "The Red and the Black" rose above all other sounds in the room, and the house. Miya had the strangest feeling that some lewd act was being committed in her home, but couldn't explain why.

Minato's other Sekirei all got the distinct impression that someone, somehow, had gotten the better of them.

Kagedansu and Izanagi got the impression that everyone had momentarily stopped listening, save for Uzume, which they both appreciated (though, per usual, one was more open about it than the other).

And Kagari, though he remained silent on the matter, started to feel a knot forming in his chest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took a little while, but the pain subsided, Tsukiumi falling on her husband's chest and panting heavily. It had taken a lot more than she thought it would, but it was done. From here, there lay naught but bliss.

Her hips began to move of their own accord, up and down, causing her breasts to sway above Minato's head. They enticed his mouth to one and his hand to the other, sucking on her like the hungry wolf he was. Tsukiumi loved every prod, every thrust, every squeeze that Minato gave to her. His touch matched Tsukiumi's own: intense, with nothing held back, and they were loving every second of it.

"Minato, if thou continuest so..." Her body shuddered as he hit a new spot within. "The others shalt see thy marks on my bosom."

Minato released her soft mound from his mouth, her tit swinging back into place while its twin was still adored by Minato's hand.

"Let them." His mouth returned to its place and his teeth grazed her silken skin.

Her climax came without warning, purely from the stimulation of her breasts and how far his words penetrated her. The rain became a typhoon, drenching them both at the waist. She sucked in stuttered breaths as the thunder in her blood subsided, trembling as her husband continued to suckle on her.

"M-Minato..." it was hard to even speak. Her body was still super-sensitive from the rush of her climax.

He stopped pleasuring her bosom and looked up at her, allowing her the moment's respite she was about to ask for.

"You want me to take it easier?"

Tsukiumi's eyes widened. "Not on thy life!"

She reared back and pulled him to her, Minato's mouth returning to her breast like a hungry infant. Her ankles locked behind his back and gyrations resumed with even more vigor, rubbing her abdomen up against his, hugging his face to her chest. Her breast contorted like fabric softener around his nose and mouth, threatening to suffocate him, but all in the name of feeling more of him. She was still weeping, reduced to tears at how intimate they'd become. Tsukiumi's mouth hung open and the corners of her lips stretched into a joyous smile as she continued to bounce.

"Minato! I love thee! Now and forever, I belong to thee!"

Minato momentarily broke from his fondling to kiss her luscious lips, and Tsukiumi had her answer.

However, when Tsukiumi's whimpers and moans became gasps and shouts, Minato was brought away from Tsukiumi's breast, out of their lovemaking.

"Tsukiumi, keep it mmph!" His warning was cut off as Tsukiumi sent his face crashing back into her bosom, burying it in her cleavage, too lost in elation was she.

"Yes! Minato! Please, love me more!"

Her head was tilted back and her eyes glazed over while staring at the ceiling, rolling further back each time their loins slammed together. Her movements became more anarchic as she began to lose control of herself, her muscles already starting to twitch and jerk as she neared her peak once more.

"Tsukiumi, not so loud!" His cry fell upon deaf ears as Tsukiumi's fervor only increased, racing towards her second climax. Minato had one recourse left, and as he squirmed in his Sekirei's arms, she felt herself reach her volatile limit.

"Yes! YES! AAAAAAA- Mmm-m-mmm!"

Minato pulled himself to her lips to his just as their dual climaxes hit, stifling her scream and saving them from Miya's wrath. What happened next was something Tsukiumi would never forget.

The influx of pleasure from his kiss roared at the eruption that came between her legs. Tsukiumi was left heaving and writhing in Minato's arms as the two maelstroms inside of her collided, spinning wildly out of control and taking her body along with them. Her vision became a white haze as her mind turned to mush, her ongoing screech unloaded into Minato's mouth as her fountain of a climax sprayed all over her husband's hips. Tsukiumi rolled over and continued to squirm beneath him, rocking from side to side as her mouth and lips squeezed every last drop of love out of him to feed the thunder in her blood. It wasn't enough. It could never be enough for how spectacular she felt. Every muscle in her body was spasming with each new deluge that geysered from her and she couldn't get enough of it!

After nearly half a minute had passed, so did the storm, the floodwaters from the rain covering the floor around them. They were completely drenched, both of them needing an actual bath. Minato opened his eyes and rose from Tsukiumi's mouth, a glistening line still connecting them, both sighing in sweet relief. Tsukiumi's vision returned and her muscles unlocked. She guided Minato's head on to her chest, allowing it to rest on her soft bosom. Both of them were pleasantly exhausted, content to lie against one another.

"Recover soon, husband," she murmured, her body emitting one final twitch as Minato licked her sensitive bud. "I await thee to claim me as thine own once more."

To both, Minato whispered back, "I will, Tsukiumi," before sliding up to his wife's face for one more tentative kiss. Her legs ensnared him and she hugged him close, already longing for the next time he'd make her body sing.


	39. Come the Storm

**Author's comment:**

40 chapters exactly. I love it when a plan comes together. And by that I mean, "I love it when things just happen to fall perfectly into place even though I didn't plan on them doing so at all". Don't you?

* * *

The party was beginning to wind down by now. Kazehana had won the drinking contest, to absolutely no one's surprise, but she was no less sprawled out next to the unconscious forms of Uzume and Matsu. All three had their faces flushed with alcohol and merriment, and all three were smiling. With all the hardship of the Sekirei Plan, and everything that was to come, it was nice to kick back and put tomorrow's problems on hold for a while.

Emphasis had been placed on the word "wild", once the two maestros had switched over from Iron Maiden to Shark Island, and their much racier track "Father Time". Izanagi had all but burned himself out jamming on his guitar, his fingers bright red and practically pulsating from all the intense, blood-boiling riffs he'd subjected himself to. This was the best kind of pain: the kind that only the chosen few, who could really cut a face-melting riff, could ever hope to feel. And he was always getting closer to being one of them.

This was the scene that Minato and Tsukiumi walked into, The Water Sekirei trailing behind her Ashikabi.

"Geez, you guys took your sweet time," Kagedansu remarked. "Why couldn't you have come back a bit sooner?"

The two fought down the blush that appeared and looked away, confusing Kagedansu. Izanagi knew _exactly_ what was going on, however, and prayed that Miya would remain as uninformed as his brother.

"They had to talk things out," said the metalhead, glancing at Minato and giving him a "work with me here" look. "Right?"

"Pretty much," Minato said, managing to meet Kagedansu's gaze once more.

"That's great, Minato!" Musubi chirped, cleaning up empty platters. "So, what did you guys talk about?"

Minato and Tsukiumi froze, knowing that the sounds of soap-on-dishes meant that Miya was well within earshot. And their instinct was correct: she was _indeed_ listening.

"There was... A misunderstanding," Tsukiumi said, intervening before anyone could say anything that would trigger the Landlady's wrath. She folded her arms beneath her bosom. "Twas resolved posthaste, and to tell true, tis best left out of mixed company."

She could sense that Miya was suspicious, but the Landlady merely eyed them and decided not to push the subject.

"I'm glad you two could sort things out," said Kagari, who'd managed to hold off Matsu's hands for the duration of the party and enjoy himself for once. "It's nice to see people getting along."

"Yeah, well, I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but we have to get home and then race down to the Comet Club," said the Shadow Sekirei, looking up at the clock on the wall.

"What're you doing thur?" Kazehana slurred, dragging herself across the floor to where Minato stood and attempting to climb up his leg. Her efforts didn't get her very far.

"We have a job," Izanagi said simply.

"More like he has one job," Kagedansu said, jabbing a thumb at his brother, then himself. "And I got a different one."

"Graaaaaaate," Kazehana drawled before hooking her fingers on Minato's pants and hoisting herself to her feet. In the process she managed to yank Minato's pants down a bit.

"Mind thy hands, thou drunken rogue!" Tsukiumi snapped, as Kazehana got a grip on a certain spot. The Wind Sekirei paid her no mind, instead wondering why Minato seemed particularly… "excited". In her intoxicated state, she couldn't put two and two together. So as it was, Kazehana leaned heavily on her Ashikabi, her eyes blanked out and meeting Tsukiumi's angry glare with a nonchalant one of her own.

Kagedansu was blind to all of this. "But before we go…" He lifted Matsu and Uzume's comatose forms over his shoulder, the two Sekirei stirring slightly as their subconscious minds, for one reason or another, sensed they were being handled. Uzume shifted a little more than Matsu, almost sliding off and forcing Kagedansu to tighten his grip lest he drop her. No one saw it, but her stupefied smile grew a little more contented.

"Which one is this one's room?" The Shadow Sekirei asked, nodding at Matsu's posterior.

"I'll take care of her _wah!_ " Minato's offer of aid was hindered as Kazehana chose that moment to pass out and fall into her husband's arms. Even completely hammered, her aim had been dead-on, Minato unintentionally groping her as he moved his arm up to catch her.

Minato was glad he'd reacted quickly enough, but then he felt a certain angry glare coming from his opposite side.

"Minato…" Invisible trails of smoke rose from Tsukiumi's form as she showed him her angry fist. "Thou art fondling another woman in front of thy wife."

Now Kazehana was smiling, too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, as the clock in Miya's room neared the twelfth hour, Kusano got out of bed and snuck down the hallway. Her brother's room was much more comfortable than hers, and for some unexplainable reason, she really wanted to be with him. She had this unassailable sense that something bad was about to happen, and she wanted to be there to protect Big Brother when it did. At least, that's what she told herself.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, a thunderclap came from outside, causing the girl to squeak with fear. Ku raced up the stairs, on all fours, and slid her brother's door open. The moonbeams illuminated him, almost like a spotlight, but faded away as clouds covered them up. She could hear the whistling of the wind from outside, and the flash of lightning. A storm had rolled in almost out of nowhere, because when she'd first stirred awake, all was quiet. But now, she could hear the rumble of thunder, not as loud but far more resonant, and it frightened her.

The shadows seemed to get a lot darker. She felt eyes on her, but from where she couldn't tell. She knew there was no one behind her, but did a double-take just to make sure. Her vision was able to pierce the darkness, as enhanced as a Sekirei's was, but the fact that it revealed nothing only made her more nervous. She still felt like she was being watched. The floor between her and her big brother was untouched by the light. Suddenly, he seemed a lot farther away.

The latch came loose and the wind howled in, ruffling the bed roll and causing Kusano to curl up into a ball, her eyes squeezed shut as she sought . She felt so cold in her pajamas, too cold to even move. She forced her eyes open. More lighting flashed in the distance, pitch-black this time, and for a single instant, Kusano saw a transparent image of the Yellow Eyes superimposed over it. Immediately, her blood turned to ice in her veins. Her mind retreated into itself and told her she was just imagining things, that the lightning had only been black to her, that the eyes were just her remembering the nightmare she had earlier that day.

But as the thunder rumbled again, once more quieter and yet far more full, pregnant with power, a whisper wound its way through the night air and into the room.

 _Kusanooooo_ _… I know you're there_ _ **somewhere**_ _…_

There was only one place where she'd heard that voice before; for the first time since her nightmares began, The Green Girl hoped she was dreaming.

"Minato shoult know better than to leave his window open. He'll catch death of cold."

Kusano turned and ran over to where Tsukiumi stood, clamping herself around the older Sekirei's leg. The blonde was surprised by the gesture, but held Kusano against her black nightgown nonetheless. Once the child had stopped shivering, Tsukiumi turned to address the problem at hand.

"Firstly we might put an end to this cacophony," she said, stepping over her husband's sleeping form. As the opening in her dress glided over Minato's face, the young ronin was assailed by his dormant libido, suddenly awake while the rest of him slumbered. He shifted in his sleep, his head stretching up to follow her as he sensed her presence. Tsukiumi felt something warm inside of her bosom, and not just the remnants of the potent love she'd shared with him.

As soon as the port was shut, Tsukiumi turned to be greeted by the sight of Kusano, her face still whimpering in fear, lying atop Minato's chest and clutching at his nightshirt. The Water Sekirei pursed her lips at this, her jealous rage rising to the fore, but a child was no threat to her position as the true wife. And frankly, she was just as eager to lie with her husband as Kusano was. So, making sure to direct the thinnest parts of her gown toward him, Tsukiumi slid beneath the covers and raised on porcelain leg to hook it around Minato's. His head once again shifted to face her, and she brushed a hand against his cheek before closing her eyes and allowing sleep to take her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Miya's usual morning call was not needed as Tsukiumi's squawks of protest woke the other four Sekirei in short order. Her hold on Minato's leg had be shaken off and replaced by Musubi, who'd rested her head between Tsukiumi's waist and Kusano's, delving at what scrap of Minato lay beneath. Matsu had once again wound herself around his other leg, her glasses off as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and readjusted how her alluring body sat in her pink nighty. But most infuriating of all, at least to Tsukiumi, was Kazehana, who'd not only slept with Minato's head hugged between her breasts, but in the complete nude.

"What do ye lowly trollops think you're doing?!"

"I dunno, what're _you_ doing, Tsukiumi?" Matsu asked.

" _I_ am his proper wife, and tis only natural for me to share bed with him," Tsukiumi said.

"I'm his wife too, ya know!" Musubi chimed in, up and awake instantly.

"Oh, come on, Tsukiumi," Kazehana said drowsily, still lying sideways. "Is that any way to wake up Mina-kun?"

"Please don't bring me into this…" Minato wheezed, as he was still trapped beneath a pile of Sekirei.

"Thou art not!" Tsukiumi barked at Musubi, ignoring Kazehana. "Only the _first_ woman of a harem is considered the legal wife!"

"Well, then I guess that makes me his wife, because I was his first woman," Kazehana countered, finally sitting up.

"Thine order of winging has naught to do with it!"

"No, I mean I was his _first_ ," Kazehana affirmed, hugging her breasts together and shooting Minato a wink.

Minato shuffled back in haste and covered his crotch. Tsukiumi was left staring open-mouthed at the other Sekirei, a few sputters of air escaping as the full revelation of what Kazehana was saying came rolling in like a Type 97 heavy bomber. Matsu wisely slid out the door, dragging Musubi and Ku along with her. If there was anywhere she wanted to be, it was _not_ in the room when the raging volcano finally blew its top. And, sure enough, it did.

"MINATO! DOTH THIS TRAMP SPEAK THE TRUTH?!"

"Tsukiumi, I know you're upset-"

"AND JUST WHEN DIDST THOU PLAN ON TELLING ME THIS?! DOTH OUR MARRIAGE MEAN THAT LITTLE TO THEE?"

"Well, it just sort of happened, before I really knew you." This time he got the full sentence out, and instantly realized his mistake.

"THOU WERT COURTING ME WHILEST SEEING ANOTHER WOMAN?! HOW MUCH DOTH IT TAKE TO SATISFY THEE?!"

"I could tell you that," Kazehana chimed in, much to Minato's chagrin.

"SILENCE, VILE HARLOT!" Tsukiumi screamed, jabbing a finger at the other woman. "I'VE A MIND TO PUNISH THEE FOR SEDUCING MINATO AS THOU DID!"

At this, a draft was felt by all but the Wind Sekirei.

"First of all, I was with Minato long before you even knew his name, and I can safely say I did plenty more to earn his affection than you have so far," Kazehana said, warming up just long enough to shoot her Ashikabi a, "Right, Mina-kun?"

The warmth evaporated as the bed sheets started to ruffle themselves.

"Second, remember what I said about who I gets to talk to me like that?" Kazehana said icily, feeding the draft into a wispy wind.

A rounded piece of metal smacked Tsukiumi on the back of the head before it flew through the room and knocked some sense back into Kazehana.

"I thought you would _both_ remember my rule against violence in my inn," Miya said, her eyes hidden by shadow. The eyes of her floating hanyo mask, however, were not. "And you…"

Minato turned white as the Landlady pointed a large carving knife at him.

"Your Sekirei will not be damaging my inn over something as petty as who was engaging in what with whom."

"Petty?!" Tsukiumi's outburst was silenced by a glare from Miya.

"You will speak with them on the matter, and ensure that my lovely Inn, one of the only things my late husband left to me, is not destroyed by their negligence," she commanded.

The most that Minato could do was unlock the muscles in his neck and slowly bob his head.

"Hey, Miya! Someone's out on the front step!" Matsu called.

"At this hour?" Miya asked, her spell over the three relinquishing its stranglehold on them. Kazehana decided, against her first instinct, to get dressed, lest Miya turn her scary mask back on. Tsukiumi resolved herself to change out of her nightgown, though she still thought it injust that she be denied her rightful place in her husband's berth as his wife. She should be changing attire in _his_ room, not that which her rivals shared!

And Minato stepped out to use the upstairs bathroom, only to run smack into Uzume, wearing nothing but some of the most revealing pink lingerie he'd ever seen. Tsukiumi was quick to shield her husband's eyes. One romantic rival was one too many already.

"What art thou doing, traipsing around in only thine undergarments?"

"Huh?" Uzume asked before looking down at herself. She then shrugged. "At least I remembered to wear panties."

Miya's horrified gasp brought them all out of the contemplation at Uzume's response. Sensing that something was wrong for it to have Miya rattled, the three raced downstairs, followed by the newly clothed Kazehana. Kagari was already at the door, staring down at something obscured by his form.

With some effort, everyone was able to get a good look at what had shaken the seemingly unshakeable landlady.

Two forms lay on the front step. The first was Izanagi, who for all intents and purposes looked in as blissful a slumber as Minato and his Sekirei had been in before Tsukiumi's rude awakening. His eyes were closed and his limbs sprawled out in a way that couldn't possibly be comfortable, but otherwise he looked fine.

Who didn't look fine was the second person. He was breathing heavily, his top sliced open by an X-shaped cut that ran from his shoulder blades down to his ribs. A third laceration was visible on his left side, almost but not quite connecting to the second. His head was turned, showing light bruising over the cheekbone as well as a clotted gash atop the crown of the skull. Dried blood ran from both his nose and mouth. Holes had been burned into his gi, the cloth cauterized from where an intense heat had touched him, and pink marks lay beneath. A nasty-looking stab wound was visible on the lower end of his right ribcage, and upon turning him over, the group would discover the wound had penetrated all the way through, a smaller clotted slit visible on his front from a blade had poked through his abdomen as well as his gi. His hands were embedded with rocks and debris from crawling on the asphalt streets. His left forearm was a deep purple, as was his right calve. The pants on that side were pulled up and worn about the knee, probably where he'd applied weight while crawling from wherever he'd come from.

But most alarming of all was the fact his Sekirei crest, which the day before had been pink, was now as pitch-black as his clothes.

" _Kagedansu!_ "


	40. As Night Awakens

**Author's comment:**

I have a confession to make: I haven't been 100% honest with you guys. I've been leading you on, making you think that you've been reading the actual story. In reality, that's not really the case.

See, what you've been reading is the super-long _prelude_ to the story; the first act, if you will.

Sure didn't feel like it, did it? My original plan was to start the story here, out of the blue, assuming that everyone who read it had read the manga/watched the anime and thus knew who everyone was (sans the OCs). But then a far more ingenious plan of action was formed, and from there, well, you just got done reading it. If I might say so, a better story was made, both before this point and after. I got to flesh out certain characters more, set up more plot threads down the line, and overall weave a far more complex and intricate narrative than anything I could've started with. Glad I didn't start where the anime ended, because at the time I stupidly assumed that the anime and manga ran parallel. Nothing against stories that do that, it's just mine wouldn't have been as good.

But, I digress. This is it, folks. Time to learn about the man behind the curtain, the one creeping around in Kusano's nightmares, the one for whom I named this story after an Iron Maiden album!

SURF'S UP, SPACE PONIES! I'M MAKING GRAVY WITHOUT THE LUMPS! **AAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!**

You're cool if you know who I'm quoting there.

 **Chapter 40: As Night Awakens**

They'd brought Kagedansu inside and set him down on the living room table. More burns had dotted his front, along with dirt and grass stains. He came around briefly, and the first question on everyone's mind was not what happened, but why his Sekirei crest had turned black. He didn't answer. Instead, he weakly begged the residents not to take him to an MBI hospital, not to let MBI run their tests and poke him with their needles and probes. After this, he fell back under. Izanagi was still out like a light, and had been placed on the couch until such a time as he'd wake up.

There was plenty medical tape and bandages to be had, and Miya relinquished a few of her spare broom handles to make splints for Kagedansu's broken limbs. His ribs were a different matter, and would need tending to, as a good number of them had been cracked if not outright fractured. His Sekirei constitution was already hard at work mending them, but it could use the assist. The stab wound in his back had mercifully not collapsed his lung, but the damage to his organ remained unknowable without the proper medical equipment. His cuts were washed, for though he was a Sekirei, a race that never became sick, there was no sense in taxing his body further.

By the time he regained consciousness again, his visible wounds had been attended to, and with a few more wrappings he could pass for an ancient Egyptian mummy.

"What time is it?" he asked softly, his yellow eyes half-open.

"It's about noon," Minato said. "The last time you woke up was three hours ago."

"And… Izanagi?"

"He's still sleeping," Uzume said. She chuckled. "Thank God he's not snoring."

Kagedansu's head sank back into the pillow that supported it, his face scrunching up in anguish.

"What?" Uzume asked worriedly, standing over him and looking at this upside-down face. "What's wrong?"

Kagedansu's face unwound, his eyes half-open as he began to tear up. "So it wasn't lying…" was all the Shadow Sekirei choked as he got up from the table, shaking off everyone's half-hearted attempts to restrain him. He walked over to the couch and sank into it, burying his face in his hands so the other's couldn't see him cry. But they could hear him; his deep, masculine voice emitted choked-up sobs as he wept.

"What was?" Matsu asked, ever the information-gatherer. "Who did this to you?"

Kagedansu shriveled up into a ball, clutching his legs to his chest and pursing his lips as a stream of words, some in English and others in Japanese, blubbed from his lips.

"Maybe he doesn't wanna talk about it?" Uzume suggested. This earned her a warning glance from Kazehana, who was not about to see her friend push her bad habit on to someone else.

"Well, we can't know who did this to him and how unless he tells us," Matsu said. "The clouds covered the city from midnight until this morning, so assuming this happened outdoors, I could only check the satellite feed from before then. And even with that, I'd have to know where to start."

"I would know of who did this," Tsukiumi said, her piercing blue eyes looking at Kagedansu, impatiently waiting for him to spill. "I've a mind to seek them out and defeat them myself."

"But I wanna fight them!" Musubi objected, locking eyes with Tsukiumi.

The stare-down went on until a wheeze broke it. Then Kagedansu uncurled and started laughing fully, a pain-filled noise that broke the two women's friendly rivalry with how utterly maddened it sounded.

"Stupid…" he said in English.

"What was that?!" Tsukiumi barked. "Surely thou didst not call me stupid!"

"He did?" Musubi asked.

Kagedansu's laughs quieted down and he returned to his sullen state. Musubi felt like she'd done something wrong, but Tsukiumi remain unmoved. And Kazehana, for one, had just about enough of waiting.

"Was it the Veiled Sekirei?" she asked, kneeling down beside the armrest. Kagedansu didn't respond, but the fact that Uzume didn't try to excuse herself from the room or shift about uncomfortably said all that The Wind Sekirei needed to know.

"Look," Uzume said, more sympathetic to Kagedansu's plight than the others knew, "I don't know if it's a good idea to make him talk about this right now. Just let him be."

"No."

Kagedansu finally spoke up, sighing in weary resignation.

"I need to tell you, even though it said…" He shook his head and gritted his teeth. "Rgh, I'm getting ahead of myself."

The Sekirei all sat down, plus Miya and Kagari, Uzume taking a spot next to Kagedansu as the Shadow Sekirei began his tale.

"It was just before midnight, when me and…" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "Iza-kun were kicked out of the club…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Turning away and walking down the sidewalk, Kagedansu curled his large hands into fists and scowled.

"Bunch of uncultured, ungrateful…" His grumblings quickly descended into incomprehensible gibberish.

"Some people don't appreciate fine art," said Izanagi, his Ashikabi, walking beside him.

"I'll say," the large Sekirei agreed. He turned to face where they'd come from, walking backwards. " **YOU WOULDN'T KNOW** **CULTURE IF IT HIT YOU WITH A** _ **STEAMROLLER!**_ **"**

He still had a piece of gum stuck to his centimeter-long hair from one of his hecklers. Another had gotten stuck to his foot, and he was glad he'd taken his brother's advice to wear shoes.

But now they were walking home, Izanagi carrying a backpack full of Western heavy metal CDs. The patrons of the nightclub where they had been hired didn't agree, and Kagedansu had found himself bouncing angry patrons instead of drunks or _real_ troublemakers. They'd managed to convince the nightclub owner to give them another chance, since the crowd usually wasn't this violent.

Still, at least now he could enjoy a walk home with his Ashikabi, under the stars, seeing the shadows cast by the full moon.

As they continued, storm clouds gathered overhead. Lightning began to crackle in the skies and thunder started to rumble. Kagedansu felt something stir in his Sekirei core, something that filled him with anticipation; a mixture of excitement, but also a hint of dread. It was probably nothing. Sekirei were human enough to fear nature a _little_ bit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, what, you have a little too much to drink and get in a fight on your way home?" Kazehana joked.

Kagedansu's look channeled all of the pain from his injuries right into The Wind Sekirei's eyes.

"Right," she conceded, feeling absolutely terrible. "I'll be quiet."

Kagedansu resumed examining the floor and continued his tale.

"I only had one shot," he said, "The owner said I wasn't allowed to drink on the job, but I convinced him to let me have one because I was a Sekirei."

67 forced a chuckle through his tightened throat. "Course, if he'd known what a lightweight I was, he'd probably never let me near the bar."

Kazehana, Uzume, Minato and Matsu shared in the joke, more for sympathy than any attempt at humor. Tsukiumi just snorted.

"Continue thy account, if thou woult," The Water demanded.

The others all glared at her, but Tsukiumi remained firm. Only Minato was more sympathetic, though only because he'd seen what lay beneath Tsukiumi's harsh exterior, and he knew she deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"We were almost to the Botanical Gardens," Kagedansu exposited, "when the thunder started…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" **THINK YOU'RE LOUDER THAN ME?! COME ON!** " Kagedansu bellowed at the heavens.

"There's just no hope for you, is there?" Izanagi asked, adjusting his shades.

"Little brother," Kagedansu said, "I gave up on my volume sensibilities a _long_ time ago."

"Which, ironically," the boy remarked, "is how I found you."

"Heh, right? When we get home, what do say to plugging in our guitars and jamming until the police break the door down?"

"I'd say that sounds like a plan," Izanagi mumbled, straight-faced as ever. The youth then felt some of his teeth rattle loose as a meaty hand slapped him squarely in the back.

" **THAT'S THE SPIRIT!** " Kagedansu exclaimed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So then what happened?" Uzume asked.

Kagedansu's response sent a shiver down Kusano's spine. "Black lightning…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next moments were eerily silent, the thunder and wind having died completely. It was as if nature itself was on edge, waiting with baited breath for something to happen.

And sure enough, it did. From out of the clouds came a titanic lightning bolt, dark as the night sky that was hidden behind the clouds, its edges tinged with a light purple. The sky-splitter forked down from the heavens and struck the earth smack dab in the middle of the Botanical Gardens. A gust of wind buffeted the duo's clothes as the air around was drawn inward towards the landing site.

"That was close," Kagedansu said. He turned to address his Ashikabi. "Wanna inspect?"

"Never seen a ground strike before," Izanagi replied. The Shadow Sekirei knew it was an affirmation. "Though I don't think they're supposed to create a vacuum."

"Then all aboard! Let's go see it!" the Sekirei said, picking up his brother and leaping off towards the gardens, eager to see what the strange lightning had left behind.

As Kagedansu touched down near the gardens, the trees having thinned themselves since Kusano left them, he spotted someone kneeling in the center of a rather large crater. It looked like someone had taken a giant melon-baller and scooped out part of the ground, leaving room for this mysterious person to stand in.

The stranger slowly rose to his feet, like a statue coming to life, moonlight outlining his figure. He wore a dark, oxford blue fleece; at the ends of sleeves even more wrinkled than Kagedansu's gi were elastic cuffs, daintily surrounding his wrists. Smooth, loose black pants descended down his lower half, a trio of thin red vertical strips on the outside of each leg. The bottoms of the pants engulfed the tops of the brown traction boots he wore, wrinkling a bit from where they rested.

The stranger's blonde hair was cropped short, exactly like Kagedansu's. What little skin that could be seen was fair, borderline pale. Overall, his attire made his body type unknowable, leaving it entirely up to the imagination. What wasn't hard to imagine was his girth; the breadth of his shoulders and the height at which he stood suggested that he was almost if not as large as The Shadow Sekirei himself.

But none of that really mattered to Kagedansu. After the rotten time he'd just had, he _really_ needed to blow off some steam.

"Hey you! How about a little-"

The figure held up his hand, motioning for Kagedansu to pause. There was plenty of flesh about it, but from the way he bent his fingers (only at the knuckles, the fingers themselves remaining ramrod-straight), it made them look almost skeletal. Miniature black bolts crackled about him as he rolled his shoulders and flexed his arms, like an imago shedding its chrysalis. After a moment, the figure, still keeping his back turned, gestured for Kagedansu to continue.

"Right, so how about a friendly little spar, Lightning Man? Maybe you and I can get to know each other, we'll have a few laughs and **WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!** "

The figure had begun walking away, towards the darkness beneath the trees. Now he seemed to be ignoring Kagedansu. The Shadow Sekirei wasn't having any of it, but his Ashikabi was.

"You really think this okay?" Izanagi asked.

That was when the figure entered the shadows of the trees. Kagedansu's Sekirei eyes could still make him out, but the minute details of his clothing and head faded away, turning blacker than the shadows themselves.

"Not quite," Kagedansu heard him murmur. " _These_ energies feel a bit more… _Potent_ …" He didn't know who this guy was talking to, but he did know when someone was being discourteous.

" **HEY! IT'S RUDE TO IGNORE PEOPLE LIKE THAT!** "

That was when the figure turned, revealing a pair of luminescent yellow eyes that pierced the darkness like a rapier. Upon seeing Kagedansu, the figure narrowed its eyes and cocked its head slightly to the side.

"So _that's_ the game, is it?" he mused, in a voice like a soft trail of smoke.

"What game?" The Shadow Sekirei called back, marching over to the treeline. "Wait, you mean the Sekirei Plan? I mean, you gotta know what Sekirei are, right?"

"Forgive me," the figure responded cordially, bowing his head slightly. "I'm… not well-informed of recent events. Care to explain?"

"Ugh, never mind," Kagedansu groaned, waving the other man off and turning to go.

"Now, hold on," the figure called. "I never said I was opposed to the idea. I just hoped to know whom I'd be fighting. I'm sure you can sympathize; you look seasoned enough."

"Sure am," Kagedansu replied, turning back and thumping his chest. "Sekirei 67, Kagedansu. And you are?"

"Delighted," came the reply. The shade readied himself, adopting a fairly basic hand-to-hand stance: legs spread, weight balanced, fingers curled (but not fisted), hands held out in front of the face. In short, nothing fancy, but most definitely pragmatic.

"Shall we?" he asked.

Kagedansu nodded, grinned, and rushed at his new opponent. The shadow bobbed under the opening swing and countered with a cross on the same side. Seemed he was pretty strong, because Kagedansu actually felt it. He rolled with the blow, piveting his whole body on his planted right foot and whirling about with his left leg. Just like always, his spin kick landed right at the ribs, sending his adversary stumbling sideways. If Kagedansu had gone full-force he could've easily sent the person flying, but he didn't want to end the fight right after it started!

The figure was quick to recover as Kagedansu pressed his advantage, launching a barrage of jabs. His opponent skillfully turned them all aside with his open palms, like a man washing a window, before dropping his hips and landing a one-two combo on Kagedansu's rock-hard abdomen. These were a bit stronger, enough to irritate but by no means painful. More irritating was Kagedansu's underhand slug being hooked by the shadow's arms and pulled around its waist like a safety belt. The Sekirei found himself tossed over his opponent's bent back, the silhouette swinging his whole torso around to add to the momentum of the throw. Kagedansu was pretty heavy for a Sekirei, and got especially dirty from skidding across the grass before hitting his head on an embedded rock. _Ow_.

But that only got him more hyped. Ignoring the trickle of blood from the gash in his skull, Kagedansu leapt to his feet and came at his attacker again. Though he couldn't see his face, the yellow eyes before him told him that his opponent was enjoying it as much as he was.

They went back and forth for a few minutes, the two of them more cautious, circling each other with their defenses held firm. Occasionally one would snap a blow at the other, but these were all dodged. The last one made Kagedansu question if he hadn't inadvertently challenged a Sekirei, because despite his reflexes he felt a fist graze his left ear. Seizing the moment, Kagedansu brought his right fist around for a counter-cross. He only realized about halfway through that he'd gotten a little too enthusiastic and sunk some Sekirei strength into it.

To his unabashed surprise, he felt it slam into a palm, gripping it tight and holding it firm. Kagedansu's arm quivered as his strength tried to continue forward, but this one wasn't letting it.

"You're not human, are you?" the shadowy figure asked, looking him in the eyes. The tone of his voice said he already knew the answer. Kagedansu leaned harder into his fist, the Shadow Sekirei's masculine pride demanding that he prove his superior strength. His opponent's fist wobbled but didn't budge an inch. The Sekirei applied more pressure, determined to break the stalemate. He'd worked hard to get this strong, and he wasn't about to let some no-name show him up.

This proved to be a mistake. Without warning, his opponent caved under the pressure and steered his arm to the side, bringing his free hand around and smacking Kagedansu right in the face. The blow caught Number 67 unawares, leaving an aching pain in his jaw as he stumbled away, back into the moonlight. _That_ had been a lot harder than he was used to taking, even harder than that punch he'd caught from Number 105 earlier that day. Whoever this guy was, he was packing some _serious_ firepower in those guns.

"Forgive me for assuming," the eyes said, sliding their hands behind their head and leaning it back, "but this fight… It's not _quite_ what I'd expect from one such as you."

Kagedansu rubbed his tender face, a bit irritable. It felt like he'd bitten the lining of his mouth, because he tasted blood. The rise of pain in his face also told him that more likely than not he a bruise. Just who exactly was he fighting here?

"Wait," the eyes said, lowering their arms. They blinked, and suddenly the irises had shifted from yellow to a light blue. Kagedansu might've found it unnerving, if his own eyes weren't prone to doing the same.

" _Are_ you holding back?" they asked him. Kagedansu froze whilest rubbing his face. Obviously this person didn't know about Sekirei, so he didn't know about _norito_ , either. But if he did, Izanagi might be put in danger. He recognized that look in his opponent's eyes: a mirror image of Kagedansu's own passionate enthusiasm for battle. But there was something… _off_ about this one. Number 67 couldn't put his finger on what. Something about the way he spoke, the way he carried himself, the way he moved… Well, the Sekirei couldn't worry about that right now, not when he still had a fight to win. So…

"Sorry to say it, but this is all I have," Kagedansu growled. He couldn't help feeling irritable; getting pimp-slapped in the face had unleashed a flood of testosterone and adrenaline into his blood.

"Now, why would you say something like that? I believe I've more than demonstrated my fortitude," the figure said, offering his hands, a sign of sincerity. He stuck his hand into the light and pointed to Izanagi. "Does that boy have something to do with it? Is that why you keep him here? Is he your means to access this hidden power, or does he carry some secret weapon in your stead?"

Kagedansu's fear was visible. Was the figure about to go after Izanagi? Still, this guy could spot his lying, so maybe…

" _Yes_ ," Kagedansu said, laying it on so thick you'd need a butcher's knife to hack through it. " _He has_ _ **everything**_ _to do with it_."

His opponent's eyelids drooped. Though he couldn't see it, Kagedansu sensed that an eyebrow was being unamusedly raised.

"As I suspected," the unseen one rumbled, annoyed. Damn, this guy saw through the Sekirei like a windshield.

In a moment, the contempt left the eyes, replaced with the more familiar polite enthusiasm.

"Well, if you'd like, I'll let you power up," he continued. With his visible hand, he shooed the Sekirei. "Go on. I won't stop you. Show me this power you hide, that we may have a _proper_ duel."

The Shadow Sekirei hesitated. He'd never used his _norito_ ability before, so he had no idea what affect it would have on his body. What he _did_ know was that using it as anything but a knock-out combo would leave him drained, vulnerable. Moreover, even though this guy had proven himself a pretty sturdy punching bag, he didn't want to _kill_ him. Noritos were known to do that, and despite his strength, Kagedansu wasn't entirely sure this guy could take what he dished out.

Eventually, his unseen adversary, still enveloped by the shadows, grew tired of his silence.

"No?" he asked, making no attempt to hide his disappointment (and, Kagedansu sensed, his returned annoyance). The silhouette rotated around, walking behind the tree and murmuring to himself.

"It's not my fault if he chose poorly… Now now, let's not get over-excited," he whispered to his unseen third party. He paused before speaking again.

"Because, my old and ever-so-impatient friend…" His voice dropped from a pitying muse to a sinister rasp. "I have a _better_ idea…"


	41. The Day is Put To Sleep

**Chapter 41: The Day is Put to Sleep**

Kagedansu had grown quiet. He'd sat there, on the couch, for minutes on end while the gathered residents of Izumo Inn kept waiting for him to continue. It was a little unnerving, and was putting everyone on edge.

Finally, Tsukiumi's patience ran out.

"Why dost thou fall silent?" she demanded. "Hast thy tale finished or not?"

"No."

"Then continue," the Water Sekirei demanded. Minato was a little taken aback by her apparent lack of empathy. Couldn't she see that Kagedansu had gone through a lot, and this was probably difficult for him to talk about? Or maybe she did and just didn't care. Either way, he'd have to speak to her about it later.

"That was when…" The Shadow Sekirei swallowed the lump in his throat. "When it…"

His voice trailed off as his gaze moved to Izanagi's unmoving form. The boy hadn't stirred, even shifted, since they'd laid him down. His gentle breaths were the only sign of life he emitted. Even when he'd accidentally inhaled a few strands of his hair, it had taken Uzume brushing them off to get them out. Uzume had been a little surprised that Kagedansu hadn't done it himself.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her friend's eyes had begun to leak, and in a moment they were gushing.

"Iza-kun…" he sobbed. "I'm sorry."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu heard a suctioned gasp from behind him, followed by a terrible, spiking pain in his chest. He forced his screaming muscles around and saw his Ashikabi's head clutched in the same hand that had struck him only moments ago. The arm ran back into the shadows, disappearing into the silhouette of Kagedansu's unseen opponent. Yellow eyes flared at the Sekirei, _daring_ him to try to stop whatever horrible thing he was doing.

The last thing Kagedansu saw in Izanagi's eyes were their silent scream for help, before they rolled back in his head and his lifeless body dropped to its knees.

The one that held the youth's life in its hand lets its smile speak of his contempt.

"I'd say I was sorry, but…" He huffed humorously and shrugged. "I'd be lying."

" **YOU** ** _BASTARD!_** "

"Hmph. Unoriginal."

No. 67 flew at his brother's attacker, who slipped behind the tree and disappeared from view, taking his brother's unconscious body with him. Kagedansu halted as he searched for his opponent, his insurmountable rage threatening to blind him.

"I have a question, uncouth as it may be: why do you value him so much?" the voice jeered.

Kagedansu spun back around. There they were, those two yellow eyes, hovering over the inky black of the figure. His vision going red, The Shadow Sekirei charged, practically foaming at the mouth. The eyes evaded his wild fist, and for his trouble, Kagedansu got a sledgehammer to the gut. He realized, as he took his eyes off of his foe and let it slip away from him, that what had struck him had been an elbow.

"It's obvious you've no familial ties to him. I can tell just by looking at you. Also..."

Something cold and sharp sliced through Kagedansu's gi along with his back.

"Surprise _,_ " came the gentle murmur that accompanied it.

He whirled around again, his haymaker blocked by a forearm. Odd, though, how his attacker's other arm was braced against the first just below the elbow, a hunting knife clutched in its hand and pointed towards Kagedansu. A quick one-two saw the empty fist strike the bridge of Kagedansu's nose and caused a crimson drizzle; the second hand, the one that clutched the knife, did not attempt to stab him, but simply caught him in the temple, a reverse-haymaker to Kagedansu's own.

Maybe it was because his vision was blurry from the minor head trauma, but the Shadow Sekirei thought he saw the shade dissolve into the darkness, leaving only his yellow eyes and wicked leer before they, too, faded. Kagedansu shook his head, sending droplets of blood spraying on to the grass as he reorganized his thoughts.

"So why, then," the shade continued, changing unseen locations yet again, its footsteps inaudible even to a Sekirei, "do you care for him? _Do_ you care for him?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" the Sekirei growled. "Of course I cared for him. Why do think I'm so god-damned pissed?"

 _Draw him out. Get him focused on me._

"Oh, I don't know," the silken voice spoke politely. "Had you _truly_ been concerned for his safety, you'd have exploited whatever power he possessed and then, well, sent him on his way!"

There! There it was! Right in front of him, three meters away, its black silhouette contrasted by the lighter backdrop of the night. He willed himself to calm, to try to approach this carefully. He'd held back before, but now that this guy had crossed a very fine, very strict line, Kagedansu was taking the gloves off.

"You don't know a thing about us, do you?" he rumbled, slowly making his way over. He saw his attacker's eyes widen, locked into a hungry and almost carnivorous stare as The Shadow Sekirei raised his guard and began to circle around.

 _Alright, camo, on my signal..._

"I know your name is Kagedansu," the shade said, its voice deep with arrogance as it mirrored Kagedansu's movements. "I know his name was Musashibo Izanagi, just like I know that you are his... 'Sekirei', if that's the proper term. _And_ that you had the option to empower yourself, but you didn't. Even after I promised no interference...

The specter's luminous eyes narrowed, accusing him and mocking him at the same time.

"You still hesitated. _Why?_ "

 _Keep him talking; maybe the bastard will lower his guard._

"You didn't give me a chance to decide," Kagedansu growled. One would think his inner thoughts and outer rhetoric were not communicating with one another.

"I gave you time; you exhausted it," it said simply, the conceit in its voice driving another wedge into the box where Kagedansu had temporarily locked away his anger. "And for what? I see no disadvantage. _I_ would've taken it, because then _I_ might provide better sport than the human I apparently care about for some reason."

An eyebrow was raised. Kagedansu couldn't see it, but he knew it.

"Still don't see why he's worth getting all bent out of shape over. There's only a few billion more just like him," it said matter-of-factly.

The Sekirei grew further irritated, never mind how absolutely livid he was over this creep's attitude.

"He was my brother."

"And your _absolutely_ certain? Because from where I sit, I don't see the connection."

 _Not yet._

"He was irreplaceable."

"Feh, that's what they all say."

 _Come on, drop your guard already._

"You-"

"Kagedansu," it spouted condescendingly, lowering its arms and taking a micro-step back. Only a moron would've taken its bait. "I am one who deals with cause-and-effect. So cry me as many rivers as you will but the simple fact remains that I made a rational prediction and you did nothing to counter it."

Kagedansu halted in his tracks, reconsidering whether or not this guy was expecting him to attack. The dark figure stuck its hands in its pockets and threw its head back, its eyes wandering while it mused. So, that's a "Yes".

"Because it seems that you do not live in a world of logic, only of petty skirmishes and heavy metal music."

The Shadow Sekirei's jaw clenched and his lips pursed. "Come a little closer," Kagedansu growled quietly, beckoning with his finger, "and say that again."

The specter that faced him regained its lost ground with a single stride. "Very well." With its previous cheer almost gone, it said, "You're an oaf cares not for practicality, only hedonistic satisfaction. And thus far I've seen very little to prove otherwise."

Kagedansu's face relaxed, as cold and expressionless as his voice. The fist-type lowered his own guard, deciding to try his hand at trap-making. "If I'd powered up, it would've left me weakened, and it might've _killed_ you. So excuse me for thinking you weren't a heartless bastard, and trying _not_ to leave myself vulnerable."

A hoarse, wheezing laugh burst from his foe. "I will admit: that would be _quite_ amusing," the humor left its voice, "if you had come anywhere close to hurting me."

The yellow eyes flashed. "But anyway, back to this power-up of yours. Does the weakness apply to all Sekirei, or just you?"

Kagedansu started, realizing he'd been played. It was at that moment that the shade attacked him, leaping forward at blinding speed to send its left fist at Kagedansu's throat. The Sekirei turned it aside with his pinwheeling hands, but the shade slid by with his strike and slammed his left elbow into Kagedansu's right ribs, before pushing off and disappearing by the time Kagedansu had finished reeling.

 _Damn, that hurt._

The Sekirei spun wildly, searching for his unseen tormentor.

"Lessons learned all around, I suppose."

The steel came again, nipping at Kagedansu's back. He felt the deceptively tentative touch of his attacker's breath on his neck.

"Or not," it teased.

Then it was gone again. For the first time that night, The Shadow Sekirei had to stop wonder who was the hunter here. Just then, he remembered what Kusano had told him, about the dreams she'd been having... No, couldn't be. Could it?

"And now, because of your bungling buffoonery," it had returned to needling away at Kagedansu, "not only am I that much closer to besting each and every Sekirei I fancy, but there's nothing you can do to save your, **ahem** , 'brother'."

Behind him. No, in front of him. Rgh, how was this guy moving around so fast? Was he throwing his voice or something?

"He'll remain like this, in this state between living and death."

His foe took far more pleasure in saying that Kagedansu could stand.

" _You've lost him._ "

Kagedansu's rage rekindled.

"Then you'll find him for me," Kagedansu seethed, "after I tear off your jaw." He was practically spinning in place, not allowing himself to be caught off-guard again.

"Now what makes you so certain I can reverse it?" the unseen lurker jeered. "You can't reverse an _actual_ corpse, can you?"

The full implication of what he was being told sent Kagedansu's vision back into red.

" **WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-** "

" _You'll what?"_

Then he saw it, a dozen meters away, matching Kagedansu's confrontational glare with one of its own.

" _Stand there like a ninny and piss away your chances of victory?_ _**Again?!** "_

Kagedansu flew at the creature, but it bobbed around his bullet train punch. His follow-up hook was turned aside, as were the rest, as fast as he could throw them, until Kagedansu swung one freshly-blocked hand around and looped it back under, gut-checking his hated enemy and causing him to double over.

Without so much as a pause, his foe swept its hand around the back of Kagedansu's knee and rammed its already-lowered head right into his sternum. Kagedansu still had his breath, but that didn't stop him from falling back under the force of the headbutt.

The shade stood over him. "Not that you had a chance to begin with," it sneered, wagging a finger.

Snarling, Kagedansu leapt back to his feet and returned with front kick, stopped by a cross-arm block.

"Though, I _am_ curious-"

Without even rechambering his leg, the Sekirei pulled his outstretched foot back and planted his foot right in his nameless opponent's chest.

"-on how you plan-"

He might as well have kicked a forklift, for his target slid back and instead pushed the Sekirei's foot up with his hands, leaving his crotch exposed for a stone-shattering punch.

Kagedansu's eyes immediately began to water up as the spike of pain ran all the way up his back and banged against the roof of his skull. He felt himself sailing through the air, then rolling along on the ground, too oblivious to note anything else.

"T... ri... aw." His hearing was clouded by how loud his man-toolkit was screaming.

Finally he got to his feet, his opponent now a dozen meters away, with its head cocked so that it might gaze at Kagedansu passed its nose.

"Nevertheless…" it murmured.

The shade took two steps forward. Off the first, its back heel touched off a line of fire, the ends going opposite ways and forming a perfect circular ring. Even surrounded by flickering light, this… _thing's_ features still remained hidden. It was as if it was _swallowing_ the light, sucking it in and making it disappear from the world.

But more importantly, behind its closed legs and crossed arms lay the unconscious form of Izanagi. He looked peaceful, like a child who'd fallen asleep on the couch, his chest rising and falling in slumber. But the creatures eye's, leering at Kagedansu and promising nothing but wonderful, despair, told a different story.

The figure shifted its feet wide, turning sideways. It daintily waved a hand over its head, sweeping it around before extending it towards Kagedansu, like a gentlemen might offer it to a lady.

"Shall we?"

The Sekirei analyzed the circle of fire before him. He felt no heat, but instinct told him the instant he tried to cross it, whatever was keeping the pyre at bay would suddenly vanish.

"Oh, come now, Kagedansu-san," it taunted in perfect Japanese, "after _my_ onslaught, you're not afraid of a little fire, are you?

It nudged at Izanagi with its heel. "On the other hand, I do prefer my meat _charred..._ "

Kagedansu found his nerve again and leapt through. To his surprise, the flames weren't even hot. He did a double-take out of pure disbelief, immediately regretted it, but was equally surprised when his foe didn't try to blindside him. He heard it quietly murmur something about the right switch.

Then the fire roared to life, like Hell itself had spewed forth in front of him, startling him into the center. The creature's eyes burned a line straight through his own, two thunderous storms of lunacy and bloodlust in the dark.

It shook its head and chortled, never taking its eyes off of him. "You make this too easy for me," it smirked mirthfully.

The two powerhouses came together once more. This time, there was no holding back. Kagedansu put every ounce of his fury into every strike, his berserker rage supplementing his Sekirei strength as well as his well-developed musculature. The Sekirei felt flesh beneath its wooly attire, and bone beneath the skin of its face, but he knew better than to assume what he fought was human. What few half-hearted attempts that were made to dodge only served to allow Kagedansu a better hit, aiming his fists and feet at this monster's face and gut. To an outsider, it would appear that Kagedansu was winning, for every punch sent it reeling, every kick found its mark, every slug to the gut made it double over. But each time, it would come right back up, no less amused than before, only to be struck yet again.

After realizing that his opponent was silently making fun of him, Kagedansu shifted his attack and snatched up a sharp stone from the ground, planning to use it as a makeshift knife. The creature finally moved as Kagedansu faked a front kick, looping an arm beneath the Sekirei's raised knee. His plan foiled, Kagedansu spun to dive away, attempting to twist his foot out of the hold all the while swinging the stone around. He managed to score a nick on its face, feeling the stone daintily dig into flesh, but the faint odor that Kagedansu's nose detected was more like rusty iron than the familiar coppery tang.

As Kagedansu neared the arc of his dive, the creature tightened the noose around his ankle and then hammered at Kagedansu's calf near the back of the knee, over and over again, mashing the corded muscle and breaking bone. Kagedansu wasn't even allowed to cry out of pain before he was swung around like a ball and chain and hurled through the fire into a tree. Kagedansu felt the infernal tongues lick his skin, the pyre burning hot as he passed through. What followed were a series of impacts.

The first was Kagedansu's back hitting the tree trunk.

As he slid off, the second came when the creature sailed through the flames and smashed its kneecap into the Sekirei's abdomen, oblivious to the heat it had conjured.

This lead to the third: Kagedansu's back splintering bark and wood from the tree as the trunk was explosively mashed. Kagedansu coughed all the air from his chest, and tasted blood again. He knew for sure that he hadn't bitten himself this time.

The creature touched down on its other foot and slammed the Sekirei's body down with its hands.

Kagedansu's ribs cried out as the cut on them was re-opened and the bone beneath broken by the creature's muscular quadriceps, marking impact number five.

Making sure to knock his head against the tree as it did so, the thing hooked an arm around his left thigh, whirled around and toss him back into the ring. Once more, the flames singed his flesh and the grass blades left green all over his gi.

But the Shadow Sekirei had far more pressing concerns than his outward appearance, namely how he was going to stay alive. Kagedansu rolled to his back and struggled to sit up, wincing as pain shot through his ruined leg. His whole body was in agony. He only managed to raise himself after he shifted his weight to his left side.

From outside the wall it came, strolling through the pyre without so much as a hair singed. The flames parted at its silent command, like the grand entrance of a star upon the stage, brushing open the curtains to greet its captive audience. Even still, it remained clothed in pitch black, far darker than the shadows it cast.

"I suggest a change in plans," it sneered contemptuously. "Unless, of course, you've already given up."

Was that a sour note in its voice, just now? Regardless, Kagedansu was well past the point of aiding his Ashikabi. He found himself thinking of ways to escape, just to get out of there while he still had _one_ good leg to stand on. But he couldn't leave his brother behind. Izanagi meant the world to him and if left alone this thing would turn its sadistic bloodlust on his helpless brother, just to spite him. He looked back at Izanagi's unconscious body, sweaty from the heat of the fire. Good, that meant he was still among the living. For the moment.

"Fight, and you may die. Run, and he might, erm, 'live'," it slimily sneered, once again guessing Kagedansu's thoughts. Its eyes narrowed, and its pursed lips twisted into a dark smile. The wall of fire extinguished itself as the creature asked, "Just how much does he mean to you?"

Kagedansu found an inner reserve that he hadn't thought he possessed; the pain of his injuries vanished, his fatigue and mounting sense of hopelessness dispelled through sheer force of will. He turned on his heel, determined to grab his brother and get as far away as he could before his injuries made themselves known again. One, two, three leaps saw him within arm's reach of Izanagi's unconscious body. All he had to do was reach out, grab him, and-

A blade slashed him across the back once more, and every cut and contusion he'd received that night came screaming back into reality.

"Iza-kun…" he whispered as he was grabbed by the back of what remained of his gi.

" _Stupid_ …" it spat.

The hand that held him threw him away; he crashed to a halt with his back against a willow.

"What did you think was going to happen, that I would just stand by and let you have him?" The _rage_ in its voice... It didn't sound angry, it sounded downright insulted _._ _Offended,_ even.

"I'm not about to make the same mistake as you, Kagedansu," it growled. "If you want out of this alive, your 'brother' in tow, you'll have to come up with something _INTELLIGENT!_ "

Through the fury, he caught a glimpse of something in its eyes. He couldn't articulate what precisely it was; all he knew was that it rocked his soul to the very core with fear.

That's when Kagedansu ran. "Ran" wasn't quite the right word, because with his broken leg he could only stumble to one knee before pushing off of his good leg and scrambling away. With the ring of flames put out, he was allowed the freedom to flee into the gardens, plunged into welcoming darkness once more. Using only his arms, he stealthily climbed his way up a nearby willow. He told himself that he was only waiting for the right moment, or for the creature to leave. But it was all he could do to keep himself from shaking, because he knew that the slightest movement would shake the branch and alert his hunter to his hiding place.

His pursuers's eyes still penetrated the night. It hadn't taken one step, allowing Kagedansu a respite to flee. Its previous rage was gone, once again filled by that unnerving predatory arrogance.

"Aaaaah, you think darkness is your ally," it breathed. One blink and its eyes had turned blue again. They slowly scanned the area in front of them, crawling up and around until their gaze locked right on to Kagedansu's. His heart pounded in his chest; all the world seemed to evaporate, leaving only a yawning void. At the center dwelled this thing, beckoning all to come to it, that it might visit its gleeful wroth upon them with equal abandon.

Then, without breaking their elliptical motion, the eyes passed on, and Kagedansu forced back a sigh of relief.

They circled down to the ground and swept the forest floor, before returning to just staring "out there" in front of it.

"But you are wrong…" The eyes moved back with their owner, before sliding behind the tree that cast the shadow over them.

"For you merely adopted the darkness." Its voice echoed from all around, wherever the shadows lay, being at once far away and yet right next to him.

A sharp pain exploded in the right side of his back as cold steel slid between his ribs. It burned, like red-hot sand poured right into his blood. He felt its owner's fingers slide up and around his opposite shoulder.

" _I **am** darkness_ ," it drawled, right into Kagedansu's ear.

The demon's hand pushed Kagedansu off of his perch, the blade sliding free and releasing the red tide from within. A familiar coppery tang filled Kagedansu's nostrils as he was given a look at what had wounded him. It was a triangular dagger, of foreign make, the blade equal in length from Kagedansu's wrist to the tip of his elbow.

" _And misery._ "

Kagedansu landed hard on his back, leaving an impression in the soft ground, as once again he was reminded of the previous blade wounds he'd suffered.

" _And death._ "

A booted foot landed on his chest, knocking all the wind out of him and causing him to cough up blood. But this was the lesser, a means to allow the thing the balance and precision to stomp on Kagedansu's arm with its other foot.

It leaned down, its intense stare replaced with a cat-like smile.

"Catch all of that?" it smarmed.

This was it. Kagedansu's whole body was at the end of its rope, completely spent and unable to move. The pain, the horrible, agonizing pain washed over him, rooting him to the spot and preventing him from even struggling as the creature stood atop him.

"Hm," it ho-hummed. It's not that your plan was awful, per se, it's just that I simply held all the cards. Knowing your abilities, I might've done something a bit different, but then again," it said, smirking even harder as it cradled its blade, the steel the soul source of illumination, gleaming in the moonlight, "I'm not you, am I?"

"Please," Kagedansu wheezed, a tear of pain escaping his left eye. "I can't… I don't wanna die yet..."

Its Cheshire-Cat grin widened into a goblin-like leer.

" _Ooooh_ , I'm not going to kill you," it rumbled deliciously. The dagger slipped into the inside of its fleece, or at least it appeared to. Without the light to outline its features, it was almost impossible to tell.

"But I'd like you to do me a favor," it continued. "I want you to tell all your friends about me, about what you saw here tonight."

Kagedansu was allowed to breathe again as his tormentor took a step back, apparently meaning what it said.

"Wha-" The fallen Sekirei coughed as he forced air back into his lungs. "What makes you think I'll tell _anyone_ about you?"

"Oh! Defiance! How lovely," it remarked. It then knelt down and tenderly ran a finger along his face. Kagedansu actually felt the finger _pass through_ his skin and become like… He couldn't even describe it. There was nothing of this world that could replicate the alien sensation he was feeling. And it wasn't like his nerves were feeling it either; the feeling existed entirely in his mind; if he wasn't seeing it for himself he might think he was imagining it.

He _wished_ he was imagining it.

"Because there's only so long you'll be able to keep this to yourself," it whispered, almost like a perverse lover, shaking its head while keeping its condescending gaze locked, offering him nothing but sarcastic pity. "I know how this will go. You'll do your absolute best to keep this a secret, to not indulge me, because why wouldn't you? I've taken something precious to you, that boy, and calmly, carefully, and completely metaphorically…"

It plucked at the air. " _Ripped-it-to-shreds_ ," it sniggered.

Kagedansu heeved a painful gasp as his tormentor rested an elbow on his chest, almost like a patron would rest upon a bar.

"But I know there's only so long you'll be able to hold it in: the anguish, the pain, the feeling that you've somehow failed yourself _and_ your brother." As it continued to muse, its eyelids drooped. "Isn't it funny... How the very first battle Izanagi was privy to... Was the same one where he was struck down?"

The snark left its voice, replaced by that same sinister murmur with which it had condemned Kagedansu's brother. "When you realize this, as I have, you _will_ confess. You will spread the news of my arrival, and before this is over, those who listen will be calling into question your entire being."

It laughed, a dry, heaving sound broken by gravelly staccatos. "After all, this is quite the tall tale you'll be spinning! Who in their right mind would ever believe you?"

It stood up, finally, taking the pressure off of Kagedansu's aching bones. "Or you'll choke on your own misery and go die in a hole somewhere. In which case, I'll just have to find someone else."

It stood taller, thrusting a finger into the air. " _FOR I SHALL MAKE MY ENTRANCE **PROPERLY** ,AND **NOTHING LESS** WILL SUFFICE_ _!_ "

By now Kagedansu's head was spinning, and not just from all the knocks it had taken. "Who… _What_ are you?" he wheezed.

It frowned at him, though its smile remained stone-set.

"But I _told_ you already," the figure insincerely chided. "Oh, you mean literally!"

It paused. For the first time since it showed its hand, something other than its pompous air marked its features.

"A difficult question," it said. It looked back down at him. "But as to _whom_ …"

And there it was, back after only a moment as its eyes lit up again. But it wasn't just its eyes this time. Orange light spilled from the thing's mouth as it smiled at him. Kagedansu could pick out every flaw, every blemish of its horribly worn teeth. It was like looking through a miniature portal to Hell.

"You may call meeeee…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hametsu." Kagedansu began trembling. "That's what it named itself. Hametsu."

Uzume pulled herself up to Kagedansu and nuzzled his face with her own, closing her eyes as she tried in vain to transfer some of her warmth to him. His convulsions devolved into shivers, then his muscles unlocked enough for him to slide an arm behind the small of her back. She felt his hand sink into her soft flesh and press her body up against his, his eyes never refocusing as he was forced to relive that horrifying moment of clarity.

For everyone else, despite the windows and doors being shut, as well as the amount of body heat being generated, the temperature in the room plummeted just short of freezing Miya's tea. It wasn't cold, though. The wind was cold. Snow was cold. A woman's ire? That could be cold, too. But this? This felt like something had outright _eaten the sun_.

The rest of the gathered Sekirei all crowded around their Ashikabi, Minato encircling them with his arms and pulling them close. Six hearts all pounded in unison, hammering in protest of something so vile being allowed into their world. Now they, too, had a better understanding of just what had crossed Kagedansu last night.

For "Hametsu" was a Japanese word. It had three meanings: "fall", like the way an empire would, "ruin", as in all that's left after it does, and, "destruction", the bearer of both.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Yeeeess…" the newly christened Hametsu rasped. "I like the sound of that."

Kagedansu's eyes instinctively slid shut as he felt on his face, the figure's hand clamping around his forehead.

" _My_ turn for questions."

Immaterial tendrils wound themselves into his mind, drudging up all of his fears, his doubts, every thought that kept him awake at night. It supped on his very spirit, sampling all that he was. He saw what it saw: his experiences with his tuner, his quest to find Izanagi, all that he'd done with his brother, with Uzume, with Tsukiumi, with Minato and everyone else he'd so recently allowed into his life. There was no pain, and yet Kagedansu felt so reviled at this invasion that had his material body been equally aware he might've puked out his guts. Just like when it brushed a finger on his face, the feeling was indescribable, save for how it made Kagedansu's flesh crawl. Is this what Izanagi had gone through? Is this what this alien _thing_ had done to him? Is this how it knew their names, feeding on everything his brother had known before moving on to the main course? Wait, what it had said, about knowing about his abilities…

Then it knew about his powers from the beginning, from the moment it had sunk its claws into Izanagi. It had known about Kagedansu's camouflage ability, his strength, his martial arts prowess, everything Kagedansu had told his brother about himself. This whole time, it had been toying with him. It had used him as a punching bag, nothing more, to gauge the strength of Sekirei using one of the strongest members of the species. Everything it had done to Kagedansu had been a courtesy, one which abruptly ended when Kagedansu had decided to use a simple _stone_ as a weapon. In that moment, it had realized that Kagedansu would offer no challenge to it, not to the mind, and certainly not to the body. He was just another brainless oaf life so many others, incapable of unorthodoxy, which is what it thrived on. Though, once again, had it not possessed the perfect counter for his abilities, his stunt with the tree might've been successful. But it did, and Kagedansu should've known better than to assume its blue eyes perceived the world normally, if it could literally _see_ when he was lying.

Kagedansu he realized that these thoughts were not his own, but those of Hametsu, whispering into his mind as its probing tendrils continued to bore deeper.

 _But what does it matter, who says it, when all that I say bears truth?_

This was the final nail in the coffin. The moment of its intrusion passed, and it had only been a moment, nay, a _milli_ _second_ to the rest of the world. Kagedansu felt himself slipping away, trying in vain to stay awake, clinging to the hope that he might survive and see his brother's eyes open again. But he was at the end of his rope. His body was broken, his mind violated, his will fighting a losing battle against both. He had nothing left, no token of resistance to offer as Hametsu retracted its hand.

"I shall await in the shadows, wherever you go," it told him, stepping back. "Oh, and, do tell Kusanooo… Hmh hmh hmh hmh…"

Unconsciousness awaited him, and as he was dragged their by the shackles of his own flesh, Hametsu left him with one final horror. The humanoid silhouette of the shadow, which had remained cohesive this whole time, now started to malform. Beneath the shade of the trees, thick enough to keep the moonlight out but not enough to stop Kagedansu's superhuman eyes from witnessing it, the creature's body became black mist in the air, and swirled around like water circling a drain. The eyes and teeth remained as they were, continuing to glare at him hungrily, until the eyes slid shut, the lips contorting to form one last, gravely whisper.

" _The dream is truuuue_ …"

Its hellish cackle echoed into the night as Hametsu departed, leaving behind a broken man and a young boy caught in a sleeping death.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"After that", Kagedansu said, Uzume's ministrations about his shoulders causing him to allow air back into his lungs, "I had to drag myself here, with Izanagi. The nearest MBI facility was too far, and if I'd run into any other Sekirei, that would've been it. And if that thing, Hametsu, had come back for me…"

He curled up once again and rested his face on his knees, unable to keep himself composed. His tale had left a visible effect on those gathered.

Uzume felt more for him than most. This was her worst nightmare realized: losing her Ashikabi, never being able to see or speak to her again. Only this was somehow worse, because Kagedansu would have to live with the reminder that Izanagi was still technically alive. It might've been kinder to put the boy out of his misery, to not let him waste away in the state he was in, but she knew Kagedansu would never sign off on something like that. Instead, he would keep hoping that somehow, some way, Izanagi would be woken up again. And she knew just how toxic false hope could be, which is why she'd accepted her Ashikabi's fate and resolved to her course as The Veiled Sekirei. Still, she couldn't help but take pity on him.

Kazehana also sympathized with The Shadow Sekirei, hugging Minato closer to herself even while he was surrounded by his flock. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her hubby, not after all they'd shared together, not after all he'd done for her. Sekirei were meant to fall in love. And to have one's love, platonic or otherwise, torn from them like Kagedansu did, was just plain awful. She hooked a hand around Minato's face and turned his cheek into her forehead, reassuring herself that she hadn't lost him yet. But with how the Game might go, that could change…

Tsukiumi was too distracted by her own rage at Hametsu to notice Kazehana's maneuver. She now had another reason to become stronger, that she might find a way to defeat this vile wretch, to protect her husband from him. Though the effects of realizing that someone had willingly branded themselves "Hametsu" had been visible, even on her lovely features, it disgusted her more than anything, this thing which took so much pleasure in harming others. It corrupted the purity of battle and twisted it into its own demented torture-play, like a child pulling the wings off of flies. She wouldn't stand for it. Not. One. Bit.

Matsu's brain was spewing smoke from all the things Kagedansu had said. This Hametsu sounded like a combination of several fist-types, The Sekirei of Fire, Homura, The Sekirei of Darkness, Yahan (who mysteriously had been terminated before she could be winged), and something that wasn't even a Sekirei. How were _any_ of them supposed to match that when they couldn't even figure out what the guy looked like? At best they knew he liked wearing dark colors and shared Kagedansu's hair and skin tone, hardly anything. So they couldn't track him down, they couldn't gauge his limits if Kagedansu hadn't even been able to slow him down, they couldn't figure out how to counter his abilities, and this guy could go anywhere and mind-sap anyone he wanted. A scary thought: if he could move through darkness, and knew almost everything Kagedansu knew, what was to stop him from coming here, late at night, and doing the same to any one of them? She, Minato, and everyone here was vulnerable, with the possible exception of Miya (though it was fairly easy to rule her out as someone who needed protecting), and she had to fix that.

Miya was a little reviled, but never lost her lady-like composure. She'd never met someone who could match her, and Hametsu, despite his awesome display of sadism, sounded no different. If he came snooping around her Inn, there would be Hell to pay.

Kagari was unreadable. He'd kept his cool throughout the tale, though he'd felt the chill at the first mention of Hametsu's name. As the secret Guardian Sekirei, Homura, he felt the same as Kagedansu: failure, anguish, though maybe not as intense. He'd taken it upon himself to ensure that all the little birds found their way to their special ones, a burden that had doubled when Sekirei Number 8, Yume, had passed away. He'd thought he'd succeeded. He thought his task was fulfilled. But now, Hametsu could undo everything that he'd worked for. This demon could take those special ones away, and leave each and every Sekirei as lost as they'd first been when they were first released. His whole body was burning with red-hot rage at the thought. Fortunately, he was able to keep his powers under control.

Musubi's determination to fight Hametsu was only redoubled by Kagedansu's horror story. Hametsu sounded like the strongest opponent she might ever face, maybe even stronger than Karasuba-sama, and it was up to her to take him down. If she could do that, Karasuba-sama's defeat was all but guaranteed.

Within Musubi's core, Yume quietly vowed the same. The pain she'd felt from Kagedansu and the concern of the others had caused her to stir. She hadn't caught the full tale, but she heard enough. There was no love in Hametsu's blackened heart, and Sekirei or not, neither 8 nor 88 would allow him to remain atop his pillar of might.

Out of all those present, only Kusano knew the terror that wracked Kagedansu. Like him, she'd faced The Eyes in her dreams: alone, frightened, helpless against them. And even from so far away, they still tormented her, even calling her by name. But as of last night, they too had a name; her nightmare had stopped haunting her dreams, just like it promised.

Now it stalked her in real life. The next time they met, there would be no escape.


	42. Hunted, Hunter, Which Are You?

**Chapter 42: Hunted, Hunter, Which Are You?**

Kagedansu was allowed the use of the bathroom in order to clean his injuries, and to give him some alone time. Recounting the previous evening had taken a heavy toll on him, as the more invisible wounds that this Hametsu had left were forced back open. Made worse for him was the knowledge that at some point, Izanagi would have to be taken to the hospital. If there was even a chance at him getting better, to find out just what had been done to him, then the best chance he had was with MBI. Minaka may have been a raving lunatic with delusions of grandeur, but his technicians had some of if not _the_ most advanced technology in the world, and if anyone could figure out what was keeping Izanagi separated from the waking world, it was them.

The residents dispersed, Musubi and Tsukiumi going outside to train with one another while Kusano watched with Uzume on the side, the little girl's head twitching and jerking with every blow landed. Kazehana holed up somewhere to get wasted and forget about the coiling serpent of terror that had wound around her heart, since Minato was safe within the confines of the Inn.

But Matsu had seemed out of it for a while, so Minato went to her first.

"Hey, uh, Matsu?" he said, knocking on the side of her open door. "Is something the matter?"

The Wisdom Sekirei gave her Ashikabi a look. "You mean, aside from the fact there's a freak running loose in the city who we can't even look for?"

"Uh…" Her question didn't seem like an actual query. "Yeah."

Matsu turned back to her desk, biting her thumb. "Another Sekirei was terminated last night. Stage 4, heavy lacerations, no winner in sight. All signs of the Veiled Sekirei."

Minato sensed a "but" in her voice, so he seated himself behind her on a pillow as she resumed.

"However, given Kagedansu's story, and the wounds on his body… I have to wonder if it wasn't this 'Hametsu' guy who did it. _Something_ made those cuts on his back, and it wasn't a rock, either."

Minato shuffled in and sat down behind her, crossing his legs. "You didn't ask him about it?"

Matsu looked at him and pushed her glasses up with her middle finger. "I think we've pestered him enough. When he's had time to cope, we can ask him." She turned back to her monitors and began typing away. "I can't pinpoint _when_ it happened, but MBI recovery files say she was found near the park, not too far from where Kagedansu and Hametsu fought."

"You mean, where Kagedansu got crushed."

Matsu frowned. "Now where did _that_ come from?"

"I'm sorry, it's just… I'm scared, Matsu. This guy, Hametsu… He's out there somewhere, waiting to pounce on us. Kusano told me about the dreams she had of him, and I kind of hoped, _really_ hoped, that they didn't mean anything. But after last night…"

He turned his gaze on her. "It called her by name, Matsu. It knew she'd been dreaming about him, just like it knew Kagedansu would tell her about him."

Number 2 looked down. "I'll admit, that was really unnerving for me, too."

"No, there's something else."

Just the tone he used put the Wisdom Sekirei on edge more than any horror story could. "What do you mean?"

Minato eased on his sorrowful state, unwinding and forcing himself to relax. "That night on the bridge… I had a dream about Musubi, just after she was taken down, and another woman spoke to me in it. My mom told me it was a dead Sekirei named Yume, the same one who came out and saved everyone. But just before I woke up, and just before I think Yume came out, I saw Hametsu's eyes staring at me, _laughing_ at me."

Matsu's eyes had grown impossibly wide with fear. "Your mom? Oh, crap, does she know I'm your Sekirei?" She whirled to her computers. "Hold on, Minato, I need to check this."

" ** _Matsu, this is serious!_** "

She practically hit her head from the whiplash of Minato's outburst.

"Right, I'm sorry."

She turned back from her monitors. She took a deep breath, telling herself that she could just check up later.

"'People fear what they don't understand' has more to it than just primal instinct. If we can't know what's causing the problem, then we can't fix it."

"But is there _anything_ we can do?"

Matsu sighed. "Not likely. I've gone through the entire city with the surveillance satellites looking for someone who matched Kagedansu's description. Nothing. All close matches checked out on MBI files and public records. If Hametsu really _did_ come out of a bolt of lightning, I doubt we'd find anything on him."

Minato was puzzled by this last remark. "Are you saying you don't believe his story?"

"No! Not at all! I believe him!" Matsu protested, waving her hands defensively. "But all the same… Rrrgh, I'm playing right into his hands! Hametsu doesn't _want_ us to believe he exists! It'll give him more room to work whatever he's trying to do here!"

Matsu sank down until she was face-planted on her keyboard, her hands clutching her skull, groaning.

"Why would he even tell Kagedansu to talk about him? Why not force him to keep it a secret, or just take him out right there? If he's planning on fighting the Sekirei, based on what Kusano's told me, then why is he showing off his powers, giving us a chance to counter them?"

Minato shrugged. "He's an egotist?" His offer was blockaded by Matsu's mulling. Amidst it, Minato thought he caught the words, "That _can't_ be all…" He watched his Sekirei continue to stew in her slump until he stood all he could stand. Looping his arms around her waist from behind, he gave her a gentle hug.

"We'll think of something, I'm sure of it. If we can't tackle one problem, then we'll just focus on the other. Let's put Hametsu out of mind and think on The Veiled Sekirei."

He felt her head turn to look back at him. "Look at you, taking charge all of a sudden."

Minato smiled and released her. "You do the same for me, Matsu."

"Well, mister, now that you mention it, I _can_ think of one thing we can do…"

Minato very quickly found Matsu's face very close to his own, her glasses now lying next to him.

"Wait! Matsu! Hold on!"

"No way! Deepening the bond between a Sekirei and an Ashikabi is key to winning the Sekirei Plan!"

He was almost ready to protest again, knowing her enthusiasm for "experiments", but she was quicker, pushing her lips against his and sliding her tongue between them. Her fingers hooked into his shoulders and pulled him closer, only for her to lean further into the kiss until Minato had fallen back on to the pillows. Bemusingly, she didn't try anything shifty with his pants, content to straddle him with her eyes shut and her tongue dancing opposite his own, her soft breasts providing an excellent cushion for them both. It took a moment, but Minato ceased resisting. She slid her slender arms around his shoulders and pulled him even deeper, breaking their kiss only to renew it once more, her golden wings lighting the darkness of her room the second time, banishing the shadows from within.

The two of them quickly lost track of time, because when Musubi's bear visage came roaring in unannounced, the cute brunette that accompanied it declared breakfast ready.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where's Kagedansu?" Kagari asked, having joined his house-mates for the first time in a long while, but not taking his eyes off of his food.

"I think he's still in the bath," Musubi said, opposite him, as she wolfed down another mouthful of food. "I told him breakfast was ready, and I know he heard me, but he still hasn't come out."

At this, Uzume grinned. "I might go in there and drag him down here myself. A big guy like him has to eat."

From where Miya sat, the hanyo flashed its own grin from behind her. "Despite how clothed he may or may not be?" she asked, smiling.

" _It was just a joke, Miya!_ "

The mask vanished and Miya chuckled. "As I hoped it was."

For his part, the heat within Kagari had only grown worse. Whatever had been awakened by the account of Hametsu's butchery, it wasn't going away. It had only festered, growing hotter. Now he was certain it wasn't his anger, but his damn body acting up again.

And for some reason, he couldn't stand Minato. Every time he looked at the kid, with Tsukiumi on one side and Kazehana on the other while sat Kusano on his lap in the middle, the fingers of his hand threatened to snap his wooden spoon in two. He was keeping it under wraps, but… Why? By all accounts he should at least tolerate the kid; Minato was nice enough to both Kagari and his Sekirei, not to mention how he'd risked his life for Kusano and Tsukiumi.

And while he was at it, why was this knot in his chest from the night before still there? He knew what caused it, having experienced minor bouts of it before, but today it seemed a lot worse than usual. He couldn't take this. A mild scowl carved into his features, Kagari stood, much to the surprise of everyone present.

"Hey, uh, Kagari? Aren't you going to finish?" Minato asked, his three adjacent Sekirei halting their culinary battle to feed him.

"I'm not hungry," he said matter-of-factly.

"But you've barely touched your food," Musubi remarked.

" **What difference does it make?! It's nobody's damn business how I eat!** "

With that, he stormed off, leaving the breakfast table in shock after his outburst. Miya even forgot to reprimand him for shouting.

Marching down the hall to where his room lay, he slammed the door behind him and flopped down on the bed, clutching his pectorals. He started as he felt something over his normally firm chest, something soft and squishy. His eyes widened as he recognized this feeling, one that he knew all too well from having to excuse himself in the midst of seducing women at the club. And as he clenched his jaw, he knew what it meant for him.

 _Damn you, Takehito…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"As far as we can surmise, you appear to be a sort of Sekirei prototype," the lead researcher of the S-Plan, Doctor Asama Takehito, said. "You're unique insofar as your sex appears to be in flux."

"Not a hermaphrodite," added his assistant, Sahashi Takami. "You carry both sets of gender-specific organs, which both have the capacity to function, but they wither and regenerate at inverse proportions to one another," she eyed the readouts in front of her on the monitor, "never fully developing, but never fully atrophying, either. Strange as it may sound, they appear to be fighting each other for dominance."

"So what does that mean for me?" asked the Sekirei of Fire, Homura, sitting naked on an operating table.

"Likely that your output will also be unstable, and your body's reaction will render it more so," said Asama-hakase. "From what we've determined, the body of a Sekirei acts as a regulator and outlet for their power, which flows from this strange 'core' located in the chest. As such, if your body's anatomy is sporadic, then your fire powers will be, as well. This will likely interfere with your capacity for winging."

"We're sorry, Homura," Takami said, laying a hand on the Sekirei's shoulder. "We've made all the adjustments we could, but for the time, this is out of our hands."

Homura's head hung at this, starting to feel that familiar ache around the crotch area. It was happening again, just like it would continue to. "So what am I supposed to do? Let my fires consume me?"

"I would suggest finding your Ashikabi right away," said Takehito. "If you _can_ be winged, when you begin to react, your body will be as your Ashikabi wills it. You Sekirei experience minute changes based on your Ashikabi from the initial reports of the wingings thus far; since your body is less… ' _grounded'_ , the changes you experience will likely be more drastic."

"Use that to help you," Takami said. "And on the off chance you can't emerge…"

Homura looked up at her, her expression not very promising.

"Be their guardian. Protect the rest, aid them, ensure they reach their Ashikabi safely."

"And perhaps," Takehito said, his smile as warm and welcoming as always, "you'll find yours along the way."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kagari's usually so calm. I don't think I've ever seen him angry," Musubi sulked, still a little upset at being yelled at, as she disrobed in the bathroom antechamber.

"What was up with that, anyway?" Uzume asked as she and Musubi undressed in the bathroom antechamber.

"He should talk to someone about it," the fist-type said, sliding her panties to the floor. "The first step to resolving an issue is good communication!"

 _Rub it in, why don't you?_ Uzume thought, her mind yanked over to her dilemma with Chiho and Kaze-chan.

"Sound advice, Musubi," Uzume said, folding up her jeans.

"What is?"

Uzume didn't quite catch her query, as she'd just noticed a small stain of blood was on the cuff of her pant leg. Placing her own underwear over it, she could only hope that Musubi hadn't seen anything. However, _those_ worries were put on hold and new ones given free reign as soon as Musubi opened the door.

The girls were greeted by the sight of the Shadow Sekirei, buck-ass nude, emptying a steaming bucket of water all over himself. The crystalline deluge shimmered as it flowed all over him, outlining every muscle and leaving a glistening sheen all over his torso, the tape that held his splints soaking up what liquid passed over them. Judging by the amount of dirt and crusted blood about his body, whatever he'd been doing in the bathroom for the past hour, it hadn't been bathing. Lines running from his eyes to his jaw, where the thin layer of dirt clinging to him had been carried down by a different source of water, hinted at what he'd been up to. In a moment, these widened as the hot cascade cleansed him of filth.

For their part, the girls were pleased to see him. Musubi was always delighted to have a bath-mate to wash, even if she would've preferred Minato or another of his Sekirei. Uzume, though... Well, the way she turned bright red and anxiously rubbed her thighs together denoted a different kind of excitement.

"Oh, Kagedansu! I didn't know you were still in here!" Musubi chirped happily. The Shadow Sekirei looked at her, then at Uzume, and then without even ogling their gorgeously naked bodies returned to washing himself.

"You know you'll get in trouble if Asama-dono finds you in here, right?" he rumbled.

Uzume said nothing, considering his words, and the state he was in. The conclusion she came to was that Miya's crap about not allowing mixed baths for whatever reason was outweighed by how much she felt Kagedansu needed some company right now. She knew that if _she_ were in his position, she would want someone to be with. Though, maybe not like _that_...

Still, just to be safe, "What about you?" she asked. "Aren't you worried about Miya?"

Kagedansu's mournful look hit her like a brick. "What's left for Miya to do to me?"

 _Aw, now I wanna hug him again_. And not because he was completely without clothing. He looked so absolutely miserable, like a long-eared Basset hound resting its head on its owner's leg, begging to be loved.

Musubi was already on the case, leaping into the tub with scrub-brush in hand.

"I know what _I_ could do: wash your back!"

Kagedansu's yellow eyes slid shut as he lathered his rippling arms. "Fine by me."

And so the trio went on flagrantly violating Miya's rules, Kagedansu saying nothing as the two girls discussed Kagari in more detail, wondering why he'd skipped out on work today and stayed locked up in his room. Kagedansu had eventually climbed into the tub to stew for a while, Musubi and Uzume only then realizing that he'd been left out. They followed, Uzume tried talking to him, but he remained stone-faced as his Ashikabi had been; perhaps more so, because at least Izanagi actually spoke to people.

Uzume's attempt to bring him out of his stupor by playfully splashing him only provoked Musubi to retaliate in kind when some of it splattered on her. From there it escalated into an all-out naval battle, stormy waves rolling about the tub as the two Sekirei warred it out with one another. After the pair of them had systematically drained half the tub, they both wound up for a finishing tidal wave and found themselves crashing together, face-to-face, bust-to-bust, staring each other down as their ammunition ran dry. Musubi didn't quite know what this heady feeling was from their nipples rubbing together, but Uzume knew it quite well, and despite this both of them were only spurred on by it. The two girls were formidable Sekirei, and their innate desire to compete with one another was showing.

Through it all, Kagedansu remained lost, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the corner of the tub, completely oblivious to the scintillating show he was missing.

However, the fun came to an end when the door opened and a chill settled on the room, despite the tilework still being covered in steaming droplets.

"I thought it was a bit too noisy in here," Miya remarked, her hanyo appearing, finding not one but two nude women in her bathroom with a man, performing some kind of lewd contest with each other. "Need I remind you of the rules of the bath?"

At this, Kagedansu moved again. He stood up, not even trying to cover anything, and stepped out of the tub. Miya's eyes never wavered from his face, his stone-cold expression that stared her down, unflinching in the face of her mask.

"I take responsibility for their actions, Landlady-sama," he said, standing his ground like a good soldier. "I made no objection to them coming in here, nor did I hang a sign outside denoting that I was still here. I never asked them to leave, nor did I myself leave when they entered. I am the reason they started up in the first place, and so I'll accept whatever punishment you feel due."

He dropped to one knee and hung his head, a willing sacrifice.

"I deserve it, not them."

Miya, for the first time in quite a while, was hesitant to lash out with her Broom Handle of Discipline. However, to _not_ punish someone for disrespecting her rules would only encourage this sort of thing, and soon her more critical house-laws would be in jeopardy. She knew Kazehana or Matsu would _leap_ at the chance if they heard someone else got away with a mixed bath, and unlike Uzume and Musubi, those two would drag their Ashikabi in here and before that day was out, the virginity of Miya's lovely inn would be violated. Loathe as she was to admit it, an example had to be made.

The handle of her broom snapped down and whacked Kagedansu over the head, breaking upon contact and leaving it a sharp, pointed shaft in her hands. Musubi and Uzume both visibly swallowed at this, and so turned their backs on the naked man before them lest they incur their own helping of wroth from the Landlady.

However, what no one except Miya (and possibly Kagedansu) knew was that the Hannya of the North had aimed her broom in such a way as to put stress on a hairline crack that had formed from previous beatings, and so it broke rather easily. Not easily enough to stop a lump from appearing on Kagedansu's head, but looking at the reaction this got from the two troublemakers (and Miya knew they'd been the ones who'd caused this), she was satisfied with the result. A bit shamefaced about hitting a man when he was as down as could be, but still satisfied.

Kagedansu didn't seem to mind, or care, or even acknowledge the blow he'd taken. He stood, nodded at the Landlady, and excused himself from the bath once he'd acquired a towel. The object of her pity now absent, Miya shifted focus back to the two naked women before her. Once a different kind of glare had induced enough guilt, for she'd be damned if she was the only one to feel bad about this, she left them to continue their bath.

Uzume hurriedly washed up and dried herself off, more desperately after she heard someone (Kaze-chan, perhaps?) mention that they'd be bringing Izanagi and Kagedansu over to the MBI hospital. It was only after she got dressed that she remembered she couldn't accompany them, not to MBI, not after the stunt she'd pulled. So she sank down in her room, amidst the plush toys that she'd bought for her time spent with Chiho, and only after her Ashikabi entered her thoughts did she realize she was actually longing to spend time with Kagedansu.

Ach! Damn it! Why was he always doing this to her? First he had to be the _only_ male Sekirei who well-built (in more ways than one, it seemed), then he had to go and get dumped in a slump like this, and now apparently chivalry _wasn't_ dead because Kagedansu had managed to resurrect it through the power of depression and self-loathing.

It only got worse when Uzume remembered that conversation she'd had with Chiho, then it got _even worse_ when she recalled what Kazehana had said about "enough love for everyone", and combine that with Musubi's comment just before they'd walked in on the guy…

 _It's a conspiracy_ , Uzume joked to herself. _Has to be._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thou mayst accompany him to MBI," Tsukiumi huffed. "Meanwhile, I shall seek out this 'Hametsu' and see if his mettle can match that of a more worthy foe!"

"I wanna come! I wanna come!" Musubi, now dry and dressed in her white gi.

"And that'll leave us to guard Mina-kun!" Kazehana proclaimed happily, throwing her arms around her Ashikabi as little Kusano did the same to his right leg.

"I'll not leave thee alone with my husband!" Tsukiumi squawked. It was then that she remembered a certain… _Incident_ that had been made known to her that morning. "Whom I will have a _very_ long chat with once Hametsu hath met his end."

"Don't worry, Mina-kun," Kazehana spoke devotedly, pressing her cheek to Minato's, whom could not stop his nervous chuckling as his "wife" was oozing envy out of every orifice. "I won't let her hurt you."

"Thou wouldst accuse me of thus? Just whom dost thou take me for, Kazehana?!"

"Whoever you are, I'd say you've got a choice to make, Tsukiumi," Matsu said, leaning down on the staircase and peering over the side. "You can't be in two places at once, and I doubt Hametsu's going to attack Minato in broad daylight."

"Matsu, really not helping…" Minato muttered nervously, his eyes going back and forth between the angry blonde beauty and her red-haired instigator.

Tsukiumi opened her mouth to retort but realized that, cursed be, Matsu was right! A solution…

"Kusano!" she barked, the little girl ceasing her nuzzling of her big brother's knee. "I trust thee to keep an eye on these two, lest _this_ one," she pointed at Kazehana, "swindle him into a secretive affair!"

Kusano disconnected herself and snapped a salute, her whole body ram-rod straight like a member of the SAS. "O-kay!"

Matsu sighed. _Not_ what she'd been hoping for.

For Tsukiumi, however, this was most excellent. She knew her husband would not leave Kusano alone, and judging from Kusano's fierce but somewhat less threatening glare at Kazehana, Kusano wouldn't leave Minato alone, either.

"Musubi!" Tsukiumi barked.

"Right!"

"No."

Tsukiumi snapped her head around, staring straight at the naysayer. There, in the doorway, with his makeshift arm-splint in full view, was Kagedansu, forming an "X" with his body to bar passage out.

"Pardon, I do believe I misheard thee. Mine ears say thou didst command me like some lowly dogsbody, but that woult be absurd!"

"You can't beat him, Tsukiumi," Kagedansu said simply. "So I can't let you go after him."

"Thou wouldst presume to stop me, as if thou art able?"

"Uh, Kagedansu…?" Minato had been warned about a scenario like this.

"I can't stop you," the Shadow Sekirei conceded. "All I know is that I know how strong you are…"

Tsukiumi's pride swelled a little at this.

"… and I can safely say that Hametsu's out of your league."

"We know, that's why I'm going, too!" Musubi said.

Biting back a snarling retort, and pursing her lips so as to hide her clenching teeth, Tsukiumi chose instead to say, "Thou art a formidable foe, I shall admit, but thou art still weaker than I, Kagedansu-san. Now stand aside!"

Without warning, Kagedansu exploded out of the doorway and his fist caught Tsukiumi in the jaw, sending her stumbling back and rousing every other one of Minato's Sekirei into righteous fury.

"Hey!" Kusano squeaked.

"What was _that_ for, Kagedansu?" Matsu demanded.

"That wasn't very nice at all!" Musubi huffed.

Even Minato was upset. "Kagedansu, why would you _do_ that?!"

Tsukiumi said nothing, rubbing her tenderized flesh before a vein bulged out of the side of her head and water began to swirl around her. Amazing was that her composure remained; one could barely see her hand shaking.

"Just trying to make a point," the Shadow Sekirei grunted, completely unfazed by all the glowering, or the fact that one of the elite Single Numbers looked ready to tear off his head. "Never mind that I was able to hit you; if that hurt, then you can't beat him. Because that's how hard I hit him when we fought."

"You could've said that _before_ clocking her," Kazehana scowled. Even she was pissed.

Kagedansu looked at Tsukiumi, who was still gathering her waters about her.

"Would you have listened?" Kagedansu nodded in Minato's direction. "To anyone?"

Minato could practically hear the gears grinding as Tsukiumi rotated her head, still fuming, to look at her Ashikabi. Kagedansu had sensed what his Sekirei could not, and now Minato was staring not into the eyes of his beautiful Tsukiumi but at the frenzied glare of a rabid, blue-eyed wolverine.

" _Yes,_ _husband?"_

Minato could feel the water boil off the pot that Kagedansu had dropped him in, hurriedly trying to yank his scrambled thoughts together. "Well… I…" Dear Buddha, is this what the Sekirei had to face down when they fought Tsukiumi? How the heck did they keep themselves from wetting their pants? Those eyes looked ready to turn to daggers, leap out of their sockets and skewer him, and he was the one she'd literally just called "husband" to his face!

"Think we could at least take him to the hospital," he said, doing his absolute best to not waver. "That way, I don't know, we'd know. What… To… Expect?"

Tsukiumi was now leaning forward, face-to-face with him, hands on her hips and ignoring Kazehana's glare, warning Tsukiumi lest her temper fly off the handle again. To everyone's surprise, Tsukiumi nodded, and eased back to rest on the heels of her boots, folding her arms.

"Very well," The Water Sekirei declared. "Thou makest a fair point, Minato." Instantly, her fury, ice cold as opposed to its usual flare, returned as she raised a finger at Kagedansu. "I shan't overlook a second transgression, Sixty-Seven. Thy next offense will cost thee dearly."

Kagedansu solemnly shrugged and gave a barely audible "Hm".

And it was that comment, coupled with the lack of escalation from Tsukiumi, which convinced Miya, who was looking in from outside, _not_ to step in with her laundry beater and reprimand Kagedansu for his violent act, or for what he'd inspired.

From her position at the stairs, watching the group depart, Matsu lip curled into an angry sneer. "Seems Hametsu left something behind when he went rooting around in your brain…" she muttered.

If Kagedansu heard, he gave no sign, simply pushing off with his good leg and following along with the rest as they took to the skyline, leaping along towards the hospital. Tsukiumi carried Izanagi's living corpse, the only one to match pace with Kagedansu as Musubi, with Minato, took the lead ahead of Kazehana holding Ku.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No sugarcoating," Kagedansu murmured as the MBI doctors finished inspecting him. "What's the damage?"

The doctor, an old man with a soup strainer that reached well past his chin, pulled the needle out of Kagedansu's back and examined the readouts displayed by the machinery it was hooked up to. "Better than expected, actually. Your injuries are healing at a rate moderately higher than normal."

"Uh, how much higher, exactly?" Minato asked, standing by the Shadow Sekirei's bedside with Kusano and Musubi in attendance. Too many visitors made the room overcrowded, and process of elimination paper-stone-scissors, Tsukiumi and Kazehana were forced to wait out in the hall, away from their Ashikabi.

The doctor shifted his attention to Minato. "Human bones can take six weeks or more to sufficiently heal, depending on the damage done. From the few cases we've seen, about a week for a Sekirei."

He turned back to Kagedansu. "But yours appears to be almost 20% reducted. And the lung, which based upon the scarring-"

"Scarring?" Musubi repeated, cutting in. "Meaning it's already healed?"

The doctor nodded, then grasped a fingerful of Kagedansu's hospital gown. "May I?"

"Sure," rumbled the Sekirei.

The doctor pulled his patient's gown up while Kagedansu did the same with his blanket, maintaining his modesty. "Not fully closed, but by the look of it the flesh reknitted itself far quicker than the bone, even for a Sekirei. We ran a test but found nothing abnormal about your anatomy: no irregular substances, no foreign organisms present, nothing." He looked at Kagedansu, who still lay with his head back on the white pillow. "Then again, we still don't know everything about you Sekirei, so this could be another discovery."

"Yeah, yeah." Kagedansu half-heartedly waved his hand. "But what about Izanagi?"

The doctor looked over at the other hospital bed, where Izanagi lay, tranquil as he'd been since Miya had found him on the doorstep. "Musashibo-san, for all intents and purposes, is asleep. He shows the same brain wave patterns of a sleeping person. Medically speaking, he's not in a coma, just an "extended state of rest" as it were. But your crest, Sixty-Seven…"

The doctor shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. There's no documented evidence of a Sekirei showing a defect like this, not even The Scrap Number."

"But what does it _mean?_ " Some of Kagedansu's fire came back in that one remark, even as he pulled on the lapels of the doctor's coat to emphasize his point.

"The connection between the two of you is still present, but it's, well, dormant."

"Excuse me, but…" Minato was afraid to ask. "'Dormant'?"

The doctor turned to him. "I'll explain: when a Sekirei bonds with an Ashikabi, the influx of power they receive is drawn from the Ashikabi's own. Essentially, it gives a Sekirei a second spring to drink from. The flow is constant, and is intensified by strong emotions, and from what we've seen it can work both ways. So when an Ashikabi like yourself, Sahashi-san, wings multiple Sekirei, not only do they gain your fountain, but they can also give energies back to you. Thus, more Sekirei means more returns, and thus this second source of power grows."

The doctor sighed and readdressed his patient Sekirei. "However, based upon the changes to your body, Sixty-Seven, the power from your connection has slowed to a trickle. Not _severed_ , per se, but more 'forced apart', like taking a soft rubber tube and stretching it with one's hands. The tube retains the same volume, but the increased length causes a decrease in diameter. Thus, the water takes longer to go from entrance to exit, and said openings are made smaller, thus further diminishing the flow."

The doctor felt a tug on his lab coat, and looked down to see the little girl, Number 108, clasping at his coattails. "Is Kage-sama's brother going to be okay?" she whimpered.

He patted her on the head. "We'll try to help him, but until we determine the problem there's little more we can do than stop his muscles from atrophying."

"You really think he'll be asleep for that long?" Musubi asked.

"Don't worry," the doctor said. "One way or another, _someone_ will figure out what to do. We just need to make sure Musashibo-san remains as healthy as we can make him."

 _I wish that someone would hurry up and get here,_ Musubi thought as the doctor left the room.

"Hey, Kagedansu?" Minato spoke up.

The Shadow Sekirei's eyes slid over to him. "What?"

"Back at the inn… Why did you put me on the spot like that?"

Kagedansu blinked, his yellow eyes weary like an old man's. "Because you're Tsukiumi's Ashikabi," he said. "You know what to say to her better than I do. So if she won't listen to you, then there really isn't any way for me to stop her."

Outside, Tsukiumi and Kazehana had their ears to the door, not wanting to miss a single word.

"Ha!" Tsukiumi cried in a hushed tone. "He admiteth his own weakness!"

"And he still got you good," Kazehana teased.

"Twas mine own fault, letting my defenses relax. He _is_ a rival Sekirei, after all, and not as we two, Kazehana." Tsukiumi huffed an annoyed gust of breath. "'Twould seem even as the strongest, mine abilities may still be found wanting."

"Careful who you say that to," Kazehana joked. "Someone might think you're serious."

"I am _quite_ serious!"

"No kidding," Kazehana sighed. "Well, I'm just glad you cooled off when you did. The last thing I wanted was for you and Kage-chan to fight in front of my husband."

"I'll ignore thy claim of marriage, Kazehana," Tsukiumi angrily whispered back. "Minato is _my_ husband; he hath proclaimed it himself."

"Could've fooled me, from the way he looked ready to scram."

Tsukiumi crossed her arms, her head still leaning heavily on the door. "But he did not, thus showing he had faith in his one true wife."

Kazehana closed her mouth, her retort cut off from its main point of counter-attack. She frowned. _Huh. Never thought of it like that._

"Nevertheless…" Without even a knock, Tsukiumi burst through the door to Kagedansu's hospital room. Kazehana might've fallen in if she hadn't gotten the split-second of warning from Tsukiumi pushing off.

"I hath heard the extent of Kagedansu's injuries, as agreed. Musubi?"

"Right! Let's go!" said the fist-type, following Tsukiumi out the door and down the hall.

"Wait! You guys, hold on!"

Minato's attempt to give chase was halted by a meaty hand clenching about his wrist. The Ashikabi looked down at the owner, who eyes gave a silent, almost tearful plea to take heed.

"Don't let them keep rushing in to things," the owner of said hand told him. "That's exactly what Hametsu wants, how he got the drop on me. I got suckered into fighting on his terms, and I paid the price."

Minato nodded. "I'll try my best." How, though, he couldn't say. Kazehana and Ku, who remained behind, couldn't say, either.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato, out of breath, managed to catch up to his two renegade Sekirei out in front of the hospital. The two were staring out into the city, looking for signs of anything that resembled Kagedansu's tormentor. After it was clear that Matsu had been correct, Tsukiumi suddenly turned and lashed out with her waters at Musubi, much to no one but Minato's shock and horror. He could only stare, mouth agape, as Musubi vaulted over Tsukiumi and landed behind her, Number 88's punch stopped dead in its tracks by a concave circle of water pouring from Tsukiumi's hand.

Anywhere else this might've drawn attention. But here, with only MBI staff about and the pedestrians made aware of the Sekirei by Minaka's TV broadcast, this barely warranted more than an awestruck glance from a passing little boy and his younger sister.

Satisfied, Tsukiumi lowered her guard, as did Musubi. The two nodded to each other, and then took off over the rooftops, leaving their Ashikabi in the hands of his first and fourth Sekirei.

"Wh-what just happened?" Minato stammered.

"An exchange," said Kazehana. "To see if they could both cut it."

Minato suddenly found himself being smothered by Kazehana's bosom. "But never mind that now! Let's get you home and properly fed, Mina-kun!"

In an instant, Kusano was on Kazehana's back like an angry spider monkey, growling at her older sister Sekirei. Kazehana only hugged Minato tighter, his hair tickling what parts of her breasts were exposed by her outfit.

"Hang on, Ku!" And with that, they were headed home to Miya's delicious cooking. For her part, Kazehana wasn't worried about either of them. Musubi had been cooped up in the hospital for seven hours as MBI ran all kinds of exams and tests on Kagedansu, loyally offering herself as a shoulder to lean on now that Izanagi was out. The most that Musubi had eaten was a candy bar from a vending machine. And though Tsukiumi may have been a rock-headed volcano sometimes, she wasn't stupid, and The Wind Sekirei knew she wouldn't leave herself without someone to watch her back.

 _Pretty sneaky, Mina-kun_. It made her so jubilant to see that her Ashikabi had inherited all of his father's best traits and none of his worst, the least of which was not his taste in women, as far as Kazehana was concerned. So much so, that Kazehana almost missed herself caressing his hip with her bare inner thigh. In that she didn't miss it, instead doubling-down by further smothering him with her breasts, something little Kusano didn't seem to notice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Finally! Where have you guys been?!" Matsu rushed down the stairs to greet them.

"It took a while to diagnose Kagedansu," Minato said.

"And poor Musubi had to skip lunch," Kazehana insincerely bemoaned.

"Well, I forgot to give you an earpiece!" Matsu said. "I'm such an idiot! Of all the times to forget…"

"Say, Matsu?" Minato inquired, perplexed. "Why didn't you just call me on my cell?"

Said phone was presented to Minato after being fished out of Matsu's cleavage, the buzz from the vibration setting making her blush a bit.

"Aha," Minato chuckled. "Oops."

Minato flipped open the phone. Sure enough, there was an email present, from Minaka no less, which read,

 **The final feather awaits somewhere in the northern sector of the city. Perhaps** _ **you**_ **could be the one to claim it! Better hurry, though! It's a limited-time offer, emergence or not!**

"'The final feather'? What does that mean?"

"It means Homura's in big trouble, and you have to make him emerge _tonight!_ "

Minato stared at his third Sekirei, completely lost, though it seemed Kazehana and Kusano were not.

"Who?" he asked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the west side, surrounded by his three lovelies, a well-tanned man in black leather trappings rested an elbow on the handlebars of his motorcycle, silently reading the email to himself.

"What is it, Master?" asked the eldest of the girls, a reasonably endowed teenage-looking blonde, just as tanned as her master, wearing a clingy miniskirt and a bra top punctuated by a yellow star on each side, as black as the thigh-high boots she wore.

"Looks like there's going to be a rumble uptown," replied said master, closing his cell phone. "Something about the last Sekirei, so I have a feeling that every major Ashikabi in the city's going to be there."

"Does that mean we're going?" inquired another blonde, this one the youngest, fluttering her oversized sleeves behind her head and scratching her hair.

"Eh, why not?"

"Yaaaay!" the three girls cheered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leaning against his limosine, Mutsu and Akitsu by his side like always, Mikogami Hayato closed his cell phone and looked out into the city, his vigor stoked into a roaring fire.

"I want you to get everyone together, Mutsu," he said. "We're going after that last feather."

Akitsu waited for Mikogami to tell her what her course was, but it never came. She stepped up and laid a hand on his shoulder as he finished delivering instructions to his driver. "What shall I do?" she asked.

Mikogami took her hand and held it in his own, daintily lifting it off of himself. He looked her over, running his thumb over the soft skin on the back of her extremity, the wheels in his head turning. His touch was always so soothing, almost making Akitsu wish he could wing her, if this was how good it felt to be with him unemerged.

Finally, he said, "I want you to get up there and try to find this last Sekirei. Here," he handed her his cell phone. "If you find it, tell us right away."

Akitsu nodded, her melancholic face unable to express how happy she was to be given such an important task.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In his office, Higa Izumi glanced over at his assistant, Kakizaki.

"You get this?" he asked.

"Yes, Higa-san."

"And you've already notified our asset?"

"She knows what to do," Kakizaki said, closing his cell phone. "She'll head us off once Kochou locates this last feather."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the hospital, Kagedansu's curiosity got the better of him as his Ashikabi's cell phone buzzed on the side table next to his bed. Knowing he should be resting, he slid out of bed and flipped it open. One read later and he had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and just how many Ashikabi would be pouring into this part of town to lay claim to this last feather.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the raven-haired girl turned away from the groaning man on the sidewalk, who was clutching his tender parts in agony, she quickly took stalk of the email. Her companion cringed at the man's moaning, even as his own Sekirei tried to comfort him.

"Shiina, look at this!" his Ashikabi exclaimed, showing it to him: a silver-haired, effeminate looking boy in jean shorts and a white button shirt, roughly a few years younger than her.

The boy read quickly, and his eyes widened with hope. "Do you think it's Ku?" he asked his Ashikabi.

The girl, who was quickly being called the Demon Ashikabi by those who'd heard of her, flashed a kind, good-natured smile at him. "Well, there's only one way to find out, right?"


	43. The Last One Alive

**Chapter 43: The Last One Alive**

"Well, cat's out of _that_ bag…" Kazehana murmured.

For Minato, it was a lot to take in. Gender-flux and secretly being a Sekirei aside, Kagari, or Homura as he was really known, had been helping and encouraging other Sekirei to find their Ashikabi. Now his body had begun settling on "female", and rather than allow himself to be winged, to lose who he was from how drastically the change might further affect him, he'd resolved himself to one final act as the Guardian: kill Minaka, and bring the Sekirei Plan to an end.

"Except Minaka's stirring up the city again," Matsu seethed. "Every Ashikabi in the city could be coming for him, and even if he makes it to the tower, the Discipline Squad will be there."

Minato suddenly found himself being jostled forward by the collar of his shirt. "Minato! You have to make him emerge _TONIGHT!"_

"But, uh, Matsu? Do I really have to…" Minato's mind swung over to a vision of Kagari, or Homura, right there in front of him, glaring at him the same way the revealed Sekirei had that morning over breakfast. Except now there was a huge inferno surrounding his visage, one that Minato would have to cross if he wanted to get to the Fire Sekirei.

Minato swallowed. If Tsukiumi were here, he might be less weighed down by his gut-wrenching anxiety. It wasn't just that The Water Sekirei could help him clear a path through the flames, but also as a reminder that he'd faced an angry Sekirei before. Tsukiumi had threatened his life even in his dreams, and now...

He pushed the image of her wet, naked body out of his head. The last thing he wanted to do right now was explain to Ku-chan what the weird bulge in his pants was.

Speaking of Kusano, now that he thought about it, he'd kissed her when she was stuck in the same predicament as Kagari: not to claim her, but to help her, _genuinely_ help her. It wasn't something he actively looked forward to, not like kissing his other Sekirei, but his guilty conscience had been quick to forgive him. Now, the _nausea_ on the other hand... Hell with it.

"I'll try," he announced, much to the relief of Matsu, and the delight of the other two. "But what if he doesn't want my help?"

"Then tough," Matsu said coldly. "I smelled smoke coming from his room before he left, and if he thinks we're going to let him burn out on us, then someone'll have to smack some sense into him."

The gathered three stared at her, totally in shock. "Matsu…"

Matsu returned their looks with one less hostile than her tone. "Sometimes, people don't know they need help, or aren't willing to accept it when they really need it."

 _I'll drink to that_ , Kazehana thought, just now realizing she hadn't consumed any sake since they'd left for the hospital with Kagedansu.

"Homura's helped _dozens_ of Sekirei," Matsu continued, "putting himself at risk just so they could have even a few days of happiness! What kind of friends would we be if we didn't return the favor? Especially now, when his powers are finally getting the best of him?"

Minato felt a tug on his left pant leg. "Kagari helped keep Ku safe until Big Brother came for her," the Green Girl said, looking up at him.

"And I wonder if he'd been encouraging Tsukiumi to open up to me," Minato pondered, given that Homura had just happened to be in the neighborhood when Tsukiumi was fighting with Kagedansu and the Veiled Sekirei. It was a stretch, but if Kagari really , who's to say he hadn't pestered Tsukiumi to find her

Kazehana chuckled. "Naughty boy…"

Minato's face turned bright red when he realized what he'd inadvertently revealed, drawing an accompanying giggle from Matsu and a confused look from Kusano. How had Kazehana found out about that? If Miya hadn't, how had she?

"From the way she exploded this morning, I might've guessed," Kazehana said, grasping Minato about his shoulders. "Looks like I was right on the money, lover boy."

Matsu straightened herself out. Potential threesome experiments would have to wait until later. "Regardless, if you're going to help Homura, you should get going."

Minato nodded. "Right." The other two mirrored him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In truth, it hadn't just been his powers.

Homura had spent the entire day being wracked by his own body rebelling against him. He'd lain face-down on his bed, clutching at himself, only getting up to take a bath in the hopes of soothing the aching pain. It hadn't worked, and he'd ended up falling asleep on his bed to escape. When he'd awoken, the pain was gone, along with the sum total of his masculinity. The only part of him that remained unchanged was his brain, but how long before that was altered as well?

He wasn't about to wait. All of the little birds had found their Ashikabi, those he'd managed to save from being stolen away or terminated. Some, like a few of Mikogami or Higa's flock, had been taken, but he was one man against an entire city, and he'd consoled himself with knowing there was only so much he could do. But he never let himself think it was good enough; if he could, he would've save every single one of them, see to it that they all had a chance at happiness.

And so, lying alone in solitude, with Matsu banging on the door to ask if he was alright, he'd come to a decision, one made while still himself. If he really wanted to ensure the Sekirei could find happiness, the final step was to kill that bastard Minaka.

He'd undressed himself and slipped into his black battle attire, his shirt a little snugger and his pants somewhat looser, and taken off. He'd spied Minato and Kusano catching a ride with Kazehana, but the Wind Sekirei had apparently been too caught up in smothering her Ashikabi to notice. Just as well; the last thing he needed was someone to worry.

He could do that plenty on his own, seeing as he'd found himself confronted with The Discarded Number standing in his path and flatly talking on a cell phone.

"I'm not interested in fighting you, Akitsu," he'd said. "Stand aside so I can shut down this insane plan."

"I'm sorry," Akitsu had responded, hanging up and stuffing the phone down her cleavage, "but my master ordered me to subdue you."

"You'd rather fight than eliminate the reason _to_ fight?" Homura's breath began to appear in front of him.

"If it means I may stay with Master, then yes," Akitsu had replied, as cold and emotionless as the power she wielded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dusk was by now in full swing. Minato and his two remaining Sekirei were in hot pursuit of Homura, Tsukiumi and Musubi also having forgotten to take ear pieces on their enthusiastic hunt for Hametsu.

"Hurry up, guys!" Matsu's voice cried desperately. "Homura's already in battle and more Sekirei are closing in from all around!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Matsu," Kazehana reassured her, hoping her teammate could hear her over the winds of her passage.

"Why don't you use your wind to help?" Kusano asked, held tight by Minato.

"I wanna save that for when we get there. All this unwanted company won't leave quietly."

"Then we'll just have to get there first," Minato said stoically, bracing himself as Kazehana pushed off of another rooftop.

Kazehana smiled, and placed a mid-air kiss on his cheek. "That's my Minato."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi scanned the streets below while beside her, Musubi did the same for the rooftops. The two of them at this point were searching for signs of fire or black lightning, since if Matsu couldn't locate him via her satellite search, there was little to be gained from doing it themselves. Tsukiumi kept her eyes sharp, but she was under no delusions of success. Hametsu would only be found out when he used his powers.

Moreover, Musubi would not suffer to stare at the restaurants below.

"He is _somewhere_ about," the Water Sekirei scowled. "His vile rank betrayeth his presence!"

"Wow! You can smell him, Tsukiumi?"

"Tis but a figure of speech, Musubi. Had I known where our foe lies he would already be within my grasp."

"Oh…" Musubi was so disappointed. No doubt she was looking forward to the battle as much as Tsukiumi was, though perhaps for different reasons. The brunette then snapped her fists to her sides enthusiastically. "Then we'll just have to keep looking!"

"Indeed. But as to whom will fight him first-"

"I will!" Musubi exclaimed, leaping off.

"Ha! In thy dreams!" Tsukiumi called back, pursuing lest Musubi make good on her word.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mutsu eyed his Ashikabi as the boy gazed through a pair of binoculars at the battle across the street. The Earth Sekirei had been against coming up here but Mikogami had somehow convinced him.

Nothing against Akitsu, but Homura was probably one of the strongest pre-emerged Sekirei. And considering his contemporaries, especially those like Mutsu who'd made up the first Discipline Squad, that was saying something. Still, he had to admit, The Discarded Number was doing pretty well, as she re-froze the steam from her evaporated attacks to trap Homura in an icy coffin. He broke free, of course, but props to her for being creative. He was starting to understand why Mikogami had sent her on ahead. Oh, sure, _he_ knew why it was a good idea, but that didn't mean his Ashikabi knew about Akitsu's previous status.

Though, after getting there, and going through all the trouble of bringing Mitsuki and Juusa along for backup, Mutsu had to ask.

"Aren't you gonna send in a few more Sekirei like you usually do?"

"No way," the youth replied excitedly. "It's different when I'm here. One-on-one is the way Sekirei are supposed to fight."

"That's pretty rich coming from you," he countered.

"Yeah, I know, but that was before I realized how much fun it can be to follow the rules," Mikogami grinned, not taking his eyes off of the battle. The smile melted and a blush appeared; a cursory glance at Akitsu revealed why, among other things.

"Hey, Hayato, I'm not one to judge your tastes, but couldn't you have at least let Akitsu put on some underwear?"

" _My_ tastes?!" Mikogami wrenched his eyes away to squawk at his guardian. "Going commando's _her_ idea, not mine!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh." The Discarded Number said, looking down at her exposed groin. "I guess I forgot something after all."

" _How do you forget a thing like that?!_ " Homura barked.

Akitsu didn't answer him, another wave of her hand sending more razor-sharp spikes. Homura lashed out with his fire, incinerating not only the icicle shards but also the tattered edges of Akitsu's dress, the Discarded Number dashing back in the nick of time.

Touching down, she was immediately forced to move again as Homura blasted the rooftop with a gargantuan fire ball, easily as large in diameter as Akitsu was tall. She could see now that wisps of smoke were beginning to rise off of Homura's body, poking through holes that were appearing in his black attire. He was swaying a little, too, from left to right. She'd have to keep him under control if she wanted Master to keep her as his Sekirei.

Concentrating hard, as she'd never tried something like this before, Akitsu spread her arms wide and leaned her head back. This wasn't as simple as making a few dozen shards of ice: hundreds upon hundreds of tiny, intricately-constructed fragments were needed, and her head soon began to ache from how hard she concentrated. At first, it didn't work, her focus broken as Homura attacked again. She was forced to take shelter behind a industrial cooling unit, knowing it would at best slow her adversary up, at worst do nothing at all. But she had to try.

Once again Akitsu summoned her power. Homura's lack of retaliation allowed her to keep up the pressure, and after a dozen seconds, her efforts began to pay off. The rooftop started to overflow with white, not ice but snow. The conjuring had worked, though as a battle ploy it would probably be impractical in fights to come, but now all Akitsu had to do was control it. Winding herself up, she sprang into the air while blowing snow out of opposite sides of the cooling unit. The unit itself was starting to seize up from the snow and frost getting into the intake. A cloud about her that was as pale as her complexion, she sent it whistling down towards Homura, whose eyes were starting to glaze over with… No, it wasn't fatigue, of that, she was certain. Perhaps this would help him refocus, that he might get his powers under control again.

The snow blasted Homura head-on, but the flakes evaporated as soon as they touched his skin. What's worse, the snow that landed near him also evaporated quickly, and through the laws of equilibrium with heat, the steam began re-condensing itself into water. Mere moments after her complex and frankly taxing ploy, Akitsu was right back to where she'd started: Homura smoldering and herself without a way to stop him. Could this get any worse?

"Discarded Number, leave here now."

Both Akitsu and Homura turned their attention to the crier, wearing a familiar black shroud that hid her features, with wide white strips of cloth making up her uniform.

"The Veiled Sekirei?" Akitsu pondered aloud. Homura was thinking the same thing, though he swore he knew that voice…

"Come on, Akitsu, we're leaving," Mutsu called, sailing past her. "This was a bust."

"No it's not!" Mikogami whined from underneath Mutsu's arm. "We can still win! We'll beat _all_ of them!"

Akitsu eyed her opponent again. The smoke had gotten more intense, and embers had begun to rise from where his clothes had started to catch. It was obvious to her that Homura was failing, different from how she'd failed her master, but no less detrimental.

"You can be winged," she said, turning away from him but still keeping her gaze locked on his own. "Frankly, I'm jealous."

As Akitsu left, flanked on one side by Juusa, she realized why Mutsu had called a retreat. There were at least seven other Sekirei about the surrounding rooftops besides The Veil, two of them with Higa's camp but the rest she couldn't say. Any attempt to engage them might've resulted in them teaming up against her, Mutsu, Juusa and Mitsuki as a way to eliminate a common foe, especially with Mikogami's reputation for going after unwinged ones. She agreed that Mutsu made the right choice, but she was also self-flagellating herself for not resolving the crisis. If she'd been able to subdue Homura, they could've gone home with him in tow, mission accomplished; this was something she knew the others, Master especially, were aware of.

Homura looked around at the newcomers, each one no doubt wanting a piece of him. How had they all found him so quickly? He hadn't told anyone about his decision to kill Minaka, and there's no way anyone at MBI could've found out about it, unless…

He looked to the sky, past the clouds of smoke that he was giving off, at the first few stars that were showing in the night. One of them was pulsing brighter and dimmer, at regular intervals, an indication of a man-made object in orbit.

 _Those damn satellites_ … Minaka had probably seen him on the approach, since he was so set on watching this sick game of his unfold, and then sent an email out like he had with Ku. Whether or not the man had guessed Homura's intent didn't matter; Minaka would've known he was the last one to be unwinged, and was ready to offer him up as a prize to speed things along.

 _It's just a game, Homura_. Minaka's words echoed inside of Homura's head. _If you don't like it, then_ do _something about it._

The Veiled Sekirei was now approaching him, heedless of the Fire Sekirei's degenerating condition. "I've been ordered to collect you, Number 6. So let's go."

 _Collect you_. Homura mouthed the words to himself. Suddenly, the shackles in his mind that he'd wound around his fires slipped, and the former Guardian allowed the inferno to rage out of control.

"MINAKA!" he screeched at MBI Tower, knowing the Director could hear him. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE ME A PRIZE IN YOUR SICK GAME, THEN I'M GOING TO MELT DOWN RIGHT HERE ON THE SPOT!"

The fire exploded into a huge plume, seen all across the city by player and spectator alike. It was like a rocket engine, roaring to life, engulfing everything around it, forcing The Veiled Sekirei to jump to another roof.

"MINAKA!" Homura screamed. " _YOU BASTARD!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several blocks away, Musubi and Tsukiumi spied the pillar of flames from their position atop an apartment complex.

"You think that's him?" Musubi asked.

"We'd be remiss not to see," Tsukiumi replied. They'd been looking for Hametsu for quite a while and found no trace of him. Now he was announcing himself to the whole city? Then again, considering what he'd put Kagedansu through, Tsukiumi couldn't dismiss how much of a braggart he was.

It was at that point that both women got a rather sinking feeling not in the pit of their stomachs, but in the middle of their chests. It was trying to pull them towards the fire, urging them to go before it was too late. They looked at each other, confirming the other's thought.

"Minato!" they both said at once.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In his bed at the hospital, Kagedansu could see what he knew must be Homura's flames. There was no elegance to them like there had been when they'd fought, that day near the docks. These were more fractured, more jagged, going every which way as they arced towards the sky in their mad dash to flee the source. He hoped Homura was okay. The guy had done a lot for the Sekirei, if not Kagedansu himself, and it would be a real shame if he burned out or was winged against his will.

That was when the lights in his room switched off by themselves, as did the light coming from the crack under the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Almost there," Kazehana said. She put all her strength into one last leap over the heads of the gathered Sekirei. Minato swallowed, getting a full view of how many had responded to Minaka's email.

In his arms, little Kusano was getting herself riled up for a fight. "Hang on, Kagari!" she squeaked.


	44. Doesn't Matter If They're Friend or Foe

**Chapter 44: Doesn't Matter If They're Friend or Foe**

"Come on, Shiina, hurry up!"

"Yukari, slow down! We don't even know if it _is_ Ku!"

"We can't take the chance! If she ends up with some c- AAH!"

Shiina wished he'd kept up as the sound of screeching tires accompanied Yukari's outcry.

"Ow! You messed up my knee, you stupid jerk!" she whined. Shiina ran alongside her and saw who she was addressing: a tall, tanned man in black biker gear, riding a motorcycle with a small girl on the back seat. He was now in the process of pulling his helmet off.

"You're the one who ran out in front of me, punk!" he barked back. He got a good look at Yukari's "messed-up" knee, which had a scrape on it with her nylon stocking torn through. "What, that?"

He climbed off his bike as the little girl did the same. Walking over and kneeling down in front of her, his prognosis was, "A little spit and it'll be fine," licking his fingertip and rubbing it on.

Yukari's response to this stranger smearing saliva all over her was to hammer a foot right into his face, sending him a good six feet back to crash next to his bike.

"Come on, Shiina! Let's go!" she huffed, taking her Sekirei by the wrist and leading him off.

The biker, one Sanada Nishi, sat up and pinched his nose to stop the bleeding.

"What a naughty little girl," he commented, rubbing the boot-print she'd left behind. "Got one hell of a kick, though."

Nishi was quickly attended to by his three lovelies.

"Master, are you okay?" asked the middle eldest, No. 48 Kuzuri.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nishi replied, rubbing the black footprint that had been left on his face. _Who_ was _that, an Ashikabi? A pretty mean one, at least._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Homura was on his knees, the supernova he'd let loose still raging about him. He gritted his teeth in agony as the fire began to eat away at him. His clothes were now starting to tatter as the flames further consumed them, and his flesh was turning pink from the burns he was inflicting.

 _So, self-cremation after all_ , he thought. _At least I know it's by choice._

He saw himself, naked and lying vulnerable on a bed, his feminine parts on full display for his master, blushing and looking away shyly. That's where he knew he was headed. Well, not if he had anything to say about it.

"Kagari, don't do it!"

Homura was shocked to hear someone call him by his alias, rather than his true name. And that voice sounded awfully familiar…

"Big brother, wait!" Through the pyre, Homura saw that on the opposite edge of the roof, out of The Veiled One's reach, little Kusano was there with her arms latched around Minato's leg.

Gritting his teeth, Homura shouted, "I don't need your sympathy! This is _my_ choice, maybe the last one I make while I'm still myself! Just get out of here and leave me to burn!"

Outside of the flames, Kazehana was already looking around. There was a water tower up here, but not only was it close to Uzume but it was also too far away to reach Homura should it topple over. If only Tsukiumi were here: she could put Homura out in an instant. For the first time in her life, Kazehana silently bemoaned her wind powers, until another idea popped into her head.

"Minato, kiss me!" she shouted. Minato looked over his shoulder but Kazehana wasn't about to wait for assent. She cupped his cheeks with her hands and pushed her mouth against his, sliding her tongue between his lips to get at the nectar that unlocked her power.

As her wings faded behind her, she broke away from Minato and stepped past him, extending an arm.

"Winds of my pledge, blow away the dark clouds surrounding my Ashikabi!"

Her aim wasn't to attack, though. The tornado she summoned swirled around Homura and carried his fires upward. If she could thin out the air enough, she might be able to put out the flames and give Minato a chance to wing him. Or she might choke Homura to submission, but if he'd rather die before he'd even heard Minato's case, then as Matsu put it, "Tough luck".

Her concentration was broken when Minato pulled her aside in order to avoid a pair of long, golden whip-swords lashing out at her. Several strands of her billowing black hair were caught and severed, floating daintily to the ground.

"Alright, who's the smart aleck?" she called out, looking to the swords' direction of origin.

"That's what you get for ignoring me," said her attacker, stepping out to confront Kazehana on the roof of the storage facility atop the building. The newcomer wore a clingy blue tank top with the shoulder straps colored white, perfectly accentuating her moderately-sized breasts (compared to Kazehana's bust, that is). Black track pants clung to her bottom, though in an odd fashion choice a ten-centimeter white stripe surrounded her left thigh. She had locks of her hair standing up partially, complemented by the studded collar around her neck to give her a somewhat feline look.

"I'm Sekirei Number 62, Kaie. I'm Higa's Sekirei."

 _This Higa guy must be into some weird stuff,_ Kazehana thought, eyeing her adversary's fashion choices.

Kaie perked her head up. "Sorry about attacking you before introducing myself. I wasn't actually aiming for you, honest."

Kazehana tilted her head and raised an eyebrow, not buying the apology. "Sekirei Number 3, Kazehana." She looped an arm around and grasped Minato's shoulders, smushing her left breast against his arm. "This hunk of a man is _my_ Ashikabi."

Now it was Kaie's turn to be incredulous. "Him, huh?" Her limber swords coiled themselves into loops at the hilt. "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a single number."

Kazehana smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She nudged Minato towards the now less-volcanic Homura as she swept her winds at Kaie, trying to blow her out of her strange swords' effective range. Her opponent was a good match for her, because as Kaie flew back her serpentine blades came slithering through the gale to lick their tongues at Kazehana, who leapt aside in the nick of time.

Meanwhile, Minato was about to make a beeline to Kagari when he noticed that Kusano wasn't next to him anymore. He spotted her next to where Kaie had come from, atop the storage house behind a man dressed in a well-pressed suit and wearing glasses, another Sekirei standing next to him dressed in a yellow skin-tight track suit and sporting shoulder-length orange hair. He was about to call out to her when she placed a small seed in front of him and had it explode into a massive tangle of vines. Riding the vines down the side, she flashed her big brother a thumbs-up as the duo up top were tangled up in the freak overgrowth.

Flashing her a smile and a nod, Minato sprinted over to where Kagari still lay in the middle of his own personal bonfire.

"Kagari, come on! I can help you!"

The Sekirei of Fire simply glared at Minato through the crackling flames. "I already told you! I don't-"

Homura's retort was cut off as a massive geyser of water dropped from above and sent him crashing to the ground, flattening him like a clothing press. When it ended, he could hear a very cross voice crying, "Just what did I tell thee before? _I_ shall herald thy defeat, Homura, and no other!"

No. 6 looked over at the speaker. Same old stern look, same old lack of modesty. "Tsukiumi…" he murmured.

"Hi, Minato!" Seems Tsukiumi had dragged Musubi along for the ride, too. "Oh, Kagari? When did you get here?"

"'Kagari'?" Tsukiumi repeated. "Thou art mistaken. He is Homura!"

Musubi's brow made a cute little frown. "No he's not," she said simply. The brunette walked over to where Homura lay, his limbs feeling like they were filled with cement, and pulled down his mask. "See?"

Tsukiumi's jaw hit ground as she realized that her rival, whom she had combed the city multiple times in search of before her winging, had in fact been hiding under the same roof as her now-husband. Furthermore, she'd spent the previous evening with her rival no more than twenty yards away, and never once challenged him.

" _Homura…_ " Tsukiumi growled, clenching her fist. She uttered a growl through clenched teeth and threw her fist to her waist. "Thou art fortunate to be in such a sorry state, else I would battle with thee here and now!"

"Heh. Thanks, Tsukiumi…" Some things never changed, it seemed.

"And thee!" Tsukiumi glared at her husband next, a look of utter shock on her face. "Just what art thou doing, cavorting with my rival?"

"What?! I wasn't doing that at all!" Minato protested.

"Do not lie!" Tsukiumi snapped, jabbing a disheartened finger at him. "Thou wert seeking to put thy groping hands on Homura's body!"

"Is that what it's called?" Musubi asked, looking at her Ashikabi. She threw her arms up in adulation. "Can I go when you're done?"

"No! Guys, seriously!" Minato cried desperately. "I mean, I _was_ planning to kiss him-"

A huge bear visage came roaring out from behind Musubi, startling the other three. Musubi was left wondering why everyone looked so startled all of a sudden.

Tsukiumi, as soon as she recovered, assembled her thoughts.

Musubi. _One…_

Kazehana. _Two…_

Kusano. _Three…_

Matsu. _Four…_

And lastly, Tsukiumi herself made five.

Tsukiumi screwed her eyes shut. "Very well! Having six feathers is no worse than five, and my rival has proven worthy of calling me 'sister'! Minato!"

Minato nervously snapped to attention. "Um, yes ma'am?"

She pointed at him again. "Thou may take Homura as thy wife!"

Now it was Minato's jaw that clanged to the ground. "Just like that?"

"Well, yeah!" Musubi said. "If he's reacting to you, then there's nothing wrong with it!" She paused. "He _is_ reacting to you, isn't he?"

Minato eyeballed Homura, seeing that his face was flush and he was panting heavily despite the lack of smoke, and slowly nodded, prompting his fifth Sekirei to speak up.

"Just know that _I_ am thy real wife, and my feud with him _will_ be decided!" Tsukiumi clarified.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna have to say 'No'."

Tsukiumi snapped to where the upstart voice had come from, to be greeted by the sight of two other Sekirei.

The speaker was a petite, violet-haired girl wearing a black corset-and-dress piece over a white underdress, a purple bow in her hair and another between her clavicles, as well as white dress gloves. After hopping down to meet her on equal ground, she did a polite curtsey as her chakram came flying back, hovering in front of her. "I'm Number 101, Oriha. Higa Izumi is my Ashikabi."

"Hmph. Thou shouldst mind thy place," Tsukiumi returned, crossing her arms. A geyser of water erupted behind her and her hair began writhing like it was made from Kaie's whip-swors. " _ **I am Number 9, Tsukiumi! Challenge me and I'll repay thee in spades!**_ "

Musubi had already moved to confront her melancholy opponent, an orange-haired girl wearing a yellow track suit.

"I'm Number 88, Musubi!" she stated, thrusting her fists to get her blood going. "I'm a fist-type!"

"And me, I'm Katsuragi, Number 86," said the orange-haired girl, still looking out-of-it. "I'm a foot-type."

"Then let's do our best!" Musubi said as she rushed her opponent.

"All right, I guess…" Katsuragi replied disinterestedly, bobbing under Musubi's heavy straight punch and aiming a sweep-kick at her knees. Musubi jumped over it and allowed Katsuragi to stop mid-kick and send her extended leg straight up, almost catching Musubi in the chin if the bubbly brunette hadn't leaned back and allowed the foot to whiz by her face.

The former ronin felt a heat flare up from behind him, and turned to see that Kagari had whipped his fires up again, even more erratic this time as holes and gaps appeared in the giant candle flame that surrounded him.

"What are you doing?!" Minato asked, horrified.

"I told you: just let me burn out," Kagari mournfully called, his voice barely audible over the pyre. "I failed at my task, Minato. I can't control my powers, I can't kill Minaka, I can't even choose who I am anymore. I even failed as the Guardian Sekirei, because Hametsu can undo all the bonds I helped create. I'm nothing now…"

Homura suddenly felt himself being grappled by a hug, the points of contact flaring up even hotter and burning his skin.

"Aaagh… Hhhot!" Minato sucked in a pained breath as he clutched his inn-mate in his arms.

"Minato-"

"Don't you tell me you're nothing! _Don't you tell me that!_ "

"What are you doing…" Homura couldn't believe this kid.

"We didn't come here because of your plan or because of your power! We came because we care about you!"

Homura's fires didn't dim, but Minato pressed on.

"Kusano wanted to repay you for when you helped her!"

There was the Green Girl, her eyes pleading with Kagari to let her big brother help him.

"Kazehana's been where you are, and she knows how bad it can seem, but you just have to hope for the best!"

Kazehana was still fighting Kaie, holding the advantage in raw power and experience, but Kaie's aerodynamic weapons offered the perfect counter to her hurricane winds.

"And you heard Tsukiumi: she thinks you're a worthy rival, and even if she won't admit it she still worries for you!"

Homura looked over at Tsukiumi, who was swatting at Oriha's bladed gears as they tried to saw through her geysers.

"And Musubi didn't even need a reason! You're a nice guy, and that's good enough for her!"

Musubi wasn't doing as well as the other two; her arms were shorter than Katsuragi's legs, leaving her at a disadvantage as she was kicked repeatedly in the stomach and shoulders, but she pressed on, unabated.

"I get that you're scared of how you might lose yourself!" Minato shouted. "But how can you know that a change will happen at all, or if it'll really be as bad as you think?"

Minato pulled back and gazed into Homura's eyes, gripping the Sekirei's shoulders. "I won't let it happen, not until you give yourself a chance to live!"

Kakizaki, still ensnared by the Green Girl's plants, looked around as he realized how close he was to losing Number 6. All the Sekirei they'd brought were known and any attack on an Ashikabi would net them serious repercussions from MBI. That left one option…

"Number 10!" he shouted. "Stop standing around and get the last feather!"

By her perch near the water tower, The Veiled Sekirei heard and acknowledged her overseer's words. She hated to do this, she knew it was against everything she stood for as a Sekirei, and she knew her Chiho would never condone this, but if it was a choice between Chiho's life and Minato's, then as tough as it would be, she would have to comply.

" _ **YOU!**_ "

That furious shout was all the warning Uzume had. She arched back and managed to dodge a blur as it zoomed by her face, buffeting the veil she wore. Vaulting off of her hands, she pressed her back to the steel of the water tower.

"What the-"

CRUNCH!

Another wrecking ball of a fist came swinging around to demolish the steel girders holding up the water tower. It crashed straight through the metal and tore through it like it was made of cardboard. Uzume finally got a look at her attacker, and her heart sank when she saw who it was.

Kagedansu stood before her, his left arm still in a cast and his right leg equally impaired. A shadow loomed over his eyes, and hot breath snorted from his nostrils.

"Number 67…" she breathed. What was he thinking, coming out here in that state?

"So," he murmured softly, "you remember my number."

Before she could speak up, Kagedansu was already running full-tilt towards her, as fast as he could go with his leg locked in a cast. He moved pretty quick, scarily so, rolling off of the sole of the cast and using his toes to steer his leap forward.

" **THEN I CAN GET RIGHT TO THE PART WHERE YOU DIE!** "

For a moment, Uzume genuinely contemplated retreat. Though Kagedansu had described his mental state when he'd fought Hametsu, his unbridled fury seemed so at-odds with his normal goofball demeanor that it hadn't clicked in her mind until now. She could see nothing but hatred towards her in his eyes, one of them twitching from just how much unholy wrath was cascading from it. Where had this come from?

 _Kagedansu…_ she thought as she found her courage, and began a more calculated defense. She managed to fight back tears of despair as she dodged his fist and elbow, The Shadow Sekirei just rational enough to not risk the cast on his left forearm. _Just how badly did he hurt you?_

The only solace she could find was that since Minato was left unmolested by enemy Sekirei (including her), nothing had stopped him from kissing No. 6 on the lips. His four Sekirei all got a good look as the molten-hot cyclone surrounding Homura swirled itself into a tight orange ball between his shoulder blades, before exploding into a pair of fiery wings behind his back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in her room at Izumo Inn, looking at the scene playing before her, Matsu literally jumped for joy.

"Yes!" she squeaked excitedly. "That's it! Way to go, Minato!"

"Matsu? Did something happen?" Miya asked, poking her head in from the secret door.

Matsu moved aside to show the screen. "Look, Miya!"

"My word." Miya placed a hand over her mouth. As her surprise passed, she lowered it and smiled. "I think something very interesting is about to happen."

"What kind of 'interesting'?" Matsu didn't quite know what Miya was talking about.

Miya knelt down on a pillow. "For Sekirei, strength comes primarily from their emotions. Physical training will increase their will, but it's their bond with their Ashikabi from where they draw most of their strength."

The landlady chuckled, then pointed at another screen, this one above Matsu's head. "And if you take a look at my three tenants…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rrrrgh!" Tsukiumi's hair was now writhing like the tendrils of a kraken, her gritted teeth adding to her intimidating glare. "I know I gave him my consent, but to see my husband kiss another besides me…

Her water exploded into a geyser behind her, this one larger than the last. " **I am not amused.** _**Not at all!**_ "

Oriha's incoming chakram was swatted aside, then jostled about as a serpentine comet of liquid continued to batter it left and right, before finally letting it clang to the ground. The trail was soon joined by seven others, forming into literal serpents at their mistress's will.

" _ **Now slither forth, my water snakes! Show this upstart the depth of her folly!**_ "

Oriha wasted no time in widening her eyes, about-facing, and sprinting away as fast as her legs could carry her, her bladed gears abandoned. The reptilian constructs pursued her, opening their mouths to crash down one-by-one at the Gear Sekirei's heels.

"NO! NOT SNAKES! I HATE SNAKES!" Oriha wailed.

Kazehana continued to face Kaie, the younger Sekirei beginning to tire as she was forced to use every ounce of her strength to keep up with Kazehana, who was barely winded.

"Not bad," Kazehana called, a wry smile marking her ruby lips, "but you look like you could use a break."

Kaie pursed her lips as an irritated hum escaped from her. "I'm fine!" she barked, her whip-swords lashing at Kazehana again. "You worry about you!"

The Wind Sekirei easily avoided this one, not even bothered to try to deflect them anymore, instead aiming a banquet of air at Kaie herself, knocking Number 62 back on her posterior and causing her swords to go limp mid-flight. Touching down in front of her, Kazehana squashed her breasts together between her hands. "Face it, hun: you're outclassed."

Kaie, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about herself, redoubled her attack. It was then that Kazehana unleashed what remained of her stored norito power, blowing the younger Sekirei all the way across the street and on to an adjacent roof. Number 3's enhanced ears caught a clang sound, and from the way Kaie didn't budge from the slump she'd landed in, Kazehana assumed that her opponent had hit her head pretty hard.

Musubi, meanwhile, had halted in her fight after pushing Katsuragi's feet off her arms, a dark aura surrounding her. "I see it now…"

Katsuragi dug her heels in and skidded to a halt.

"It's always been inside me…"

Number 86 leaned forward and began building up speed.

"A big black bear…"

The orange-headed girl slowed as she saw a monstrous, demonic grizzly loom from behind her gi-clad foe.

"WAITING TO BE UNLEASHED!"

Katsuragi had come to a full stop, but it was too late. Musubi was already well into her own charge, her clenched hand reared back.

"BEAR _-"_

A bright yellow light gathered around Musubi's appendage as she brought it screaming forward.

" _FIST!"_

The attack caught Katsuragi in the face, the light discharging like a shotgun at point-blank, her scream of pain and despair echoing about the roof as she was sent corkscrewing backwards by the sheer force of Musubi's punch.

As she rolled to a halt by the edge, already she felt her strength leaving her...

"No… How could I lose…?"

Her last hope fled as a hand yanked down the back of her track suit and a finger was pressed between her shoulder blades.

" _Fist of my contract, shatter the unhappiness of my Ashikabi!_ "

As Katsuragi's body went limp and her eyes slid shut, Oriha finally ran out of roof and turned to confront the raging Number 9. But instead of Tsukiumi, her chakram were sent hurling at the green tendrils that held Kakizaki captive. He fell to the ground, pushing the vines off of himself, as Oriha sailed over Tsukiumi's head and landed next to him.

"This is bad," she said. "We lost Number 6, and they got Katsuragi. If Higa was here, I could use the incantation and we might stand a chance."

"Well, he's not, so-" Kakizaki was interrupted by his buzzing phone, which he quickly flipped open. "Yes? ... I understand, sir." He closed and pocketed it. "That was Higa. We've been ordered to withdraw."

"What about Kaie?"

"If she's terminated, it can't be helped," Kakizaki said. "Let's collect her and fall back."

As Oriha dodged an angry snap of Tsukiumi's water tendrils, she found herself in full agreement. She slid an arm around Kakizaki's waist and leapt from the roof, sailing over their ally's head as she continued her fight with Number 67.

"Ten! We're outta here!" she called below.

Uzume turned to leap away but was brought crashing to the concrete by a hand hooked around her ankle mid-flight. She immediately knew who it was, and realized that Kagedansu was now within reach, and still had an arm with which to strike her.

Desperately, she rolled over and kicked him dead in the face, knowing where it would be based on the absence of cast surrounding the palm that held her. Not wanted to spear him through the head, she used the sole of her white shoe, rather than the stiletto that protruded from the heel. Thankfully, this was enough to free her, jerking her leg back as Kagedansu smashed his elbow into the concrete.

 _Just like how Hametsu broke_ his _leg…_

Not wanting to stick around, and knowing that she was supposed to be back at the Inn, Uzume scrambled and tried to get away, but her pursuer was relentless. He was a bottomless pit that spewed forth rage and bile, never giving her a moment as they played a deadly game of cat-and-mouse on the roofs. The Veil Sekirei thought she might spend the rest of her life running, until a gust of wind heralded her savior's arrival.

"Take a break, Kagedansu!" Kazehana called, interposing herself between the two. "I've got this!"

" **NO!** " he thundered, pushing her aside before his voice dropped to a low growl. "She's _mine_."

Under happier circumstances it might've filled all three of them with joy to hear those words.

Surprised, Kazehana momentarily disregarded the shrouded Uzume. "You're in no condition to fight, and you already lost to her before," she said. "Let me handle her."

Uzume stood still, as Kagedansu had now stopped his advance and she didn't want to set him off by fleeing. This was more for his sake than hers; the poor guy had been through enough in the last twenty-four hours.

"I told you," he murmured dangerously, "if anyone's going to put her down, it's going to be me."

"She challenged me a while back. And Tsukiumi, too," Kazehana offered, trying her best to remain cordial despite her growing irritation. Couldn't Kagedansu take a hint? "You really think you can beat her now?"

"I know I can," he said. "Under different circumstances I'd be lying face-down with her back turned to me, with no one left to care for Izanagi. And who's to say how many she's left like that? The way I see it, the way she treats her battles is no better than... _Him._ "

Neither woman had to guess just who Kagedansu was talking about. Suddenly, Kagedansu's head shot around to stare Kazehana straight in the eyes.

" **SO DON'T YOU** _ **DARE**_ **TELL ME TO STOP!** **IF YOU FEEL LIKE LOSING YOUR CREST TONIGHT, THEN I'LL DROP YOU AFTER I DROP HER!** "

Kazehana's response was to extend a hand towards her disillusioned friend and whip up her winds.

"Now you listen to me," Kazehana said, finally having had enough, "only three people get to talk to me like that, and you're not one of them."

Kagedansu was suddenly right in front of her, just outside of the whirlwind. His fist rode the current and knocked against her sternum, sending her backwards off the rooftop. Kazehana's eyes were wide, staring up at his scowling expression as it grew ever more distant on the edge of the concrete.

 _He actually hit me…_ she thought. She wasn't sure what to be more shocked about: the fact that he caught her off-guard or how he'd struck of his friends. Then Kazehana remembered what kind of game they were all playing, and muttered a promise not to get sucker-punched like this again.

Quickly she flipped herself around and landed on her heels. She took a moment to rub her tender face, hoping that she wouldn't be subjecting Mina-kun to looking at a swollen cheek. He already spent too much time worrying about all of them. That and seducing him would be a little bit tougher.

Gathering her gales about her, Kazehana leapt from the ground, her powerful Sekirei legs and winds carrying her all the way from the ground to the six-story rooftop. What she found was a disheartening sight.

Kagedansu had gone completely berserk, smashing his way through anything and everything in order to get at his opponent, whom he didn't know was the girl he'd been crushing on for the past week-and-a-half. Nothing could stand up to him: steel crumpled like paper before his fists; concrete was reduced to powder wherever he struck. He was so caught up in laying waste to whatever he touched that he didn't even bother with his camouflage. His eyes were wide and his nostrils flared, his bared teeth only unclenching whenever he roared his fury. It was only thanks to these deafening telegraphs and undisciplined flailing that Uzume was able to dodge his attacks. However, she was far too focused on defending herself to counter his relentless assault.

Scary thought: Kagedansu had turned that awesome power on Hametsu.

And Hametsu had simply shaken it off, before destroying Kagedansu in just about every way short of literally.

Uzume was having the same revelation about her opponent, and so she refused to come within his reach. She was giving ground, her veils lashing out like scorpion tails to strike at him when they weren't pulling her farther away from him. Nicks and cuts were forming about his upper body, as he turned the barbs away only enough to avoid _serious_ injury. A stab wound would slow his onslaught. Anything else, it seemed, was acceptable.

Finally he grasped one of the cloth stingers at the base of the barb and yanked it forward, pulling Uzume towards him as he chambered his good leg, readying an earth-shattering kick. Desperate, Uzume wound her cloth into a drill around her hand and shot it forward, spearing Kagedansu in the gut. It didn't go very deep, as she _really_ didn't want to terminate him, not in the sad state he was in.

Her friend-turned-foe stomped down, leaning on his good leg as he saw what had pierced him. His good hand flew to it and held it firm, locking it in place to cork the bleeding. Already a crimson stain had begun expanding upon the white cloth as well as the black, and try as she might, Uzume couldn't pull out her weapon.

Then Kagedansu began to walk towards her. His hand remained clamped around her drill. She tried to yank it out, but Kagedansu hopped forward and carried himself with the momentum, moving his casted hand up to grasp at the limber cloth that linked them. His eyes were like daggers, spearing through Uzume with all the hatred and bile he must have stockpiled for his next fight with Hametsu.

For the first time since she'd donned the Veil and become Higa's personal assassin, Uzume felt fear grip her heart. Kazehana had been different, because in her heart of hearts Uzume had known The Wind Sekirei would not be so quick to condemn the actions of a friend. Uzume had seemingly disregarded their previous bond in order to face down an opponent well out of her league. Kazehana was smart enough to know that something wasn't quite right about that, not after the time they'd spent together during her first tenure at Maison Izumo, before they'd met their Ashikabi. Kazehana had spoken to her that day like a friend giving another an intervention, one that ironically ended with them getting punch-drunk and stumbling home with two strangers in tow.

But with Kagedansu, Uzume saw nothing that offered friendship, or safety, or lenience. His were the eyes of a rabid animal, its only concern to kill something that wounded it. And to Number 67, that something was Uzume.

It was then that Kagedansu had finally pulled himself within reach once again, and let go of the drill. His hand began to move from Uzume's cloth toward her face. Uzume faced only two options: push forward and drive the drill deeper into Kagedansu's stomach, probably terminating him, or do nothing as he took that same steel-shattering power to her braincase. There was nowhere to run; in the time it had taken Uzume to see that Kagedansu had _not_ used his closer casted arm to attack, as she'd expected him to, Number 10 had already wasted precious time. Her legs would never carry her out of the way. This was it.

But, once again, Kazehana had her back. Her winds had already started moving, smashing into Kagedansu and sent him tumbling against an industrial AC unit, denting it. He tried to get up, but Kazehana hammered him with another gale and sent him reeling once more. She shot a glance at Uzume, silently asking "What are you waiting for?!", and The Veiled Sekirei was gone.

Only after Uzume had disappeared from view did Kazehana let up, allowing Kagedansu to storm over to her and tower angrily over her frame.

" **WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!** " he roared, then pointed to where The Veiled Sekirei had fled. " _ **SHE'S**_ **THE ENEMY HERE!** "

"Ten didn't sucker-punch me," Kazehana replied, her arms crossed accusingly.

"Oh, okay," he snorted. "Because this so-called Number 10 never did _anything_ shady, _**RIGHT?!**_ "

Kazehana had no response to that. She could've revealed Uzume's secret, but then what? She knew as little as anyone else did, except now she could guess the identity of the person twisting Uzume's arm: Higa Izumi, the Ashikabi of the East. And even then, it wasn't like they could act on it. She doubted that Minaka would get involved until the whole thing had come to light, and targeting Ashikabi was forbidden by the rules. So all she could do was stare Kagedansu down, the angry Sekirei's furious glare breaking against her cool-headed gaze, until he decided that he'd won.

"Yeah," he muttered, turning towards where the the Veil had fled. "That's what I thought."

"Kagedansu…" she ran up to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She couldn't believe he still wanted to fight, or that he'd had so much energy in those broken limbs.

"Don't!" he snapped, pulling away from her. "You have your priorities, and I have mine."

So now Kazehana would have to deal with Kagedansu think that she was petty. Just perfect.

 _Uzume, whoever you're doing this for,_ thought the Wind Sekirei, _I really hope they're worth it_.

"Thou art a fool if thou believest thyself a match for her, in thy current condition," said Tsukiumi, touching down beside them.

This was enough to get Kagedansu to turn. He swept a hand around to gesture at all the scrap metal he'd created during the fight. "I seemed to hold my own just fine."

"And yet thou art covered in injuries while thy foe is unharmed," Tsukiumi noted. "Twould be absurd to pursue her further."

At this, Kagedansu said nothing. His left hand slowly curled into a fist, crumbling the cast around the palm. He then looked at it, feigning dull, scowling surprise, before turning back to where the MBI hospital awaited him.

"Looks like I need a new cast," he mumbled angrily. "I'll find her tomorrow."

"You do that," Kazehana said as he leapt off, still sore over getting clocked in the cheek.

The two self-proclaimed wives eyed each other, worried about what Kagedansu's fanaticism may bring, never mind the one who caused it. Then they jumped back to the rooftop where their husband and the rest awaited. Homura had passed out from all the power he'd exerted, but from the bright look on everyone's face, Tsukiumi and Kazehana could guess his decision.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back on the ground, Sanada Nishi's face had finally stopped throbbing when he saw the departing forms of those the girl, that guy and the purple-dressed woman who'd rushed here. They weren't alone, either. Three new ones were leaving with them: a blonde Sekirei in a black dress, a bubbly-looking brunette in white gi and a pink skirt, and... Huh. Looks like the final feather had been winged after all. Good for him.

Sitting up, he rested his hands on the handlebars of his motorcycle. "Welp, nothing to do now except head home." He turned to his three girls. "Shall we?"

Kuzuri and Kujika challenged each other to a race to see who could make it back first. Shijime wanted to run, too, but after Nishi said he was going to make her wear a helmet anyway, she decided to hitch a ride on the back of his motorcycle. She'd already hit her head once while leaping about, and he wasn't about to let her off _that_ easily.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Yukari and Shiina, meanwhile, were disheartened by the sight of all the departing Sekirei.

"Urgh! This sucks!" Yukari spat, kicking a nearby piece of trash. "We came all the way out here and we don't even know if it _was_ Ku!"

Shiina watched his Ashikabi's fit. While he could sympathize with Yukari, he surprisingly wasn't as worried as he should be, or as she was, apparently.

"We might've made it if not for that stupid biker guy..." Yukari grumbled.

"Hey, Yukari? I think that biker guy might've been an Ashikabi," Shiina said.

"An Ashikabi? How can you tell?"

"I just... I don't know. It's the same kind of feeling that I got when I met you, or when I was running from that other guy."

Shiina froze, a look of dread appearing on the Death Sekirei's face.

"What is it, Shiina?"

It was then that a feminine, staff-wielding form came out of nowhere and swiped at Shiina with her weapon. The Death Sekirei evaded, and was powering up one of his attacks when a leg caught him from behind and knocked him down for the count.

" _ **Shiina!**_ " Yukari's rush to his side was halted by the woman who'd kicked him, a busty one with cropped hair and a skin-tight suit, one side magenta and the other side yellow. The other one, who was leaning on her staff with a finger on Shiina's Sekirei crest, was a green-haired girl wearing a blue-and-white belly top, complemented by dark gloves and thigh-high boots.

The two looked past Yukari at the one who'd sent them. Yukari's curiosity got the better of her and she looked as well. Approaching her was a man, a very handsome bishounen, with a few feminine traits in his thin face and long-ish hair. He wore all-white business attire, the one exception being his black tie, and seemed to carry himself like a gentlemen. Indeed, if he wasn't so obviously the one who'd ordered Shiina mugged in front of her, Yukari would probably be thinking of ways to get him out of those clothes.

"I apologize for all of that," he said, "But I didn't think you would give me the time of day, otherwise."

He bowed his head slightly, trying to be courteous. "Higa Izumi. It's long past time we met, Sahashi Yukari."


	45. A Constant Fear

He says to me… He says to me "You got _style_ , baby! But if you're gonna be a real villain, you gotta get a gimmick!"

And so I go I says, " _Yeah_ , baby! A GIMMICK, THAT'S IT!"

* * *

 **Chapter 45: A Constant Fear**

Akitsu had been pacing in the study for hours now, left alone to her thoughts while surrounded by the recorded thoughts of others.

She hadn't gotten any sleep after fleeing from the site of Homura's meltdown. She'd come home, lay on her bed until the exhaustion had left her body, then got up and started pacing. And she knew Homura had died; his body had changed since last they met, along with minute differences in his voice. Homura had become a she, in everything except his attitude.

However, it didn't excuse the fact that she'd been sent to capture Homura, and she'd failed.

Her cool exterior remained unmoved, but inside Akitsu was wracked by more turbulent anxiety than she'd probably ever felt in her life. Homura had been the very last, the last Sekirei that Master would ever ask her to bring to him, and she'd failed to catch him not once, but twice.

"There you are!" said a voice, who the Discarded Number recognized as belonging to Juusa, another of Master's Sekirei. She was dressed in her usual powder-blue sleeveless kimono and purple obi sash, her black hair pulled over the left side of her head. Since they were at home, her extendable staff was tucked away next to her hip. Despite the recent midnight battle with some hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength (even stronger than the average Sekirei), Juusa still thought herself safe in her own home, yet was still wary enough to keep her weapon handy. In that, Akitsu somewhat envied her.

And just what had that creature been, anyway? Some kind of melted-faced freak with a droopy eye and blistery, olive-green skin. That eye hadn't been lazy, it had literally slid down the side of its face that had melted and hardened like candle wax. It had scared the living daylights out of everyone it came across, not helped by the fact it had chosen to attack their house well after dark. It had been less scary when they'd discovered that it could talk (albeit not in Japanese), but it offsetting that had been the sight of human bodies ripped to shreds with mops shoved down their throats. And they hadn't even owned as many mops, either.

"Hey, Akitsu? Helloo-oo!" Juusa called, waving a hand in front of Akitsu's deadpan expression. The Scrap Number blinked and looked at her counterpart.

"What?" she asked simply.

"Master's looking for you. Says it can't wait."

Akitsu's heart clenched up. Her reckoning had finally arrived. There was no point in running from it, since it would only lead to her abandonment again. So she might as well go face him one last time, before being thrown out.

"Where is he?"

"Out in the garden," Juusa replied, before noticing that Akitsu now seemed to be _trying_ to hold her frosty expression. "Something wrong?"

Akitsu couldn't maintain eye contact with her housemate. "Master is upset…"

"Oh, what, this again?!" Juusa squawked. "Ugh…"

Akitsu suddenly felt a hand gripping her own, and she was being dragged down the hallway of the Mikogami house.

"For the last time, no one's abandoning anyone, Akitsu," Juusa scolded. "Get a grip. Keep this up and your little complex will turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Akitsu allowed herself to be dragged along, her mind digesting Number 103's words until she was hauled before their Master, still in the garden, his back turned to them as he appeared to be examining the flower arrangements, sifting through them with his gardening gloves. His usual white attire was gone in favor of long blue jeans and a brown T-shirt, a look that only his Sekirei were privy to see. Mutsu was nearby (no surprise there) balancing on a tree branch with his eyes closed and his sword held out to the side.

Juusa dropped her tough routine and bowed her head.

"I found her just as you asked, Master," she said.

Mikogami stood up at this. "Thank you, Juusa," he said, still not turning around. His failure to even make eye-contact bugged the crap out of her. She let the silence continue, taking the awkwardness with Akitsu right beside her.

"Well…" Juusa stumbled over her words. "I guess I'll get going, then."

"No, stay here," he said warmly. In fact, it sounded more like a request than an order, which was strange.

She straightened out immediately. "Of course, Master!"

He twisted his head slightly, acknowledging the Ice Sekirei but not looking at her. "Akitsu."

The Scrap Number's demeanor perked up a little bit at hearing the young master speak her name.

"I wanted to talk to you about something…"

Akitsu's guts began twisting themselves up.

"Last night when we went after the last feather, Homura…"

Oh no.

"It's about something you did, in particular."

It was coming. Any moment now.

"I got a good look at your battle, and there was one thing that really irked me, and I have to ask…"

His next words would seal her fate for sure. She glanced at Juusa, who was reflecting her worry far better than Akitsu's own face could.

"Since when can you make snow?"

At this, Akitsu, Juusa and even Mutsu were a little taken aback by his strange question.

"I… Don't understand," Akitsu said.

"You always make icicles when you fight," Mikogami elaborated. "Where'd the snow come from?"

Akitsu thought back.

"My ice wasn't working. I know Homura needed to be cooled down before you could wing him, and if I simply froze him, he'd melt the ice and break free. So, I thought he might allow something less threatening, so I tried making snow, but…" She trailed off.

"Well," Master said, finally turning to look at her (making Juusa a little envious in the process), "when you tried to do it, you'd just been in a fight with the last feather, so I wasn't sure if you were tired from the battle or the snow."

Akitsu tried to do her best to explain it to him: how it was unorthodox, not directly taxing for her powers, but requiring an enormous amount of concentration to make it happen. So many small crystals, all of them neatly sculpted in comparison to the ramshackle icicle shards she usually deployed, was not something she had the discipline to pull off.

"Alright," Master said, nodding. "So do you think you could do it again?"

Now the three Sekirei were wearing puzzled looks on their faces, Akitsu's only reflected in a slight tensing of her brow.

"I don't know," she murmured.

"Well, you certainly won't unless you try," said Master. "Right, Juusa?"

"Of course!" Juusa piped up, a little too quickly for her liking.

"Right, Mutsu?"

"Please don't involve me in this, Hayato," replied The Earth Sekirei, his eyes closed again.

"Hmph," the youth huffed, folding his arms. "You're no fun at all…"

Juusa nudged Akitsu with her elbow. "It would make Master happy, so chop-chop," she muttered.

Akitsu looked back from her companion at her master. He was waiting, albeit a little impatiently, for her response. Exhaling through her mouth and closing her eyes, the Scrap Number began gathering her energies once more. In the sun, she encountered more resistance than she had in the cool of the night, but it was offset by her familiarity with her power, now that she'd attempted it.

A few sparse snowflakes began to form around the yard. Then more. Then it started snowing. Soon, the whole garden was blanketed in snow and everyone was up to their laces in it.

Juusa shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, her frail arms and thin kimono offering no protection from the chill. Sure, as a Sekirei she wouldn't freeze to death, but that didn't make it any less frigid out her.

She suddenly felt a pair of filthy, plant-stained arms wrap around her from the front. She looked up and was face-to-face with Mikogami, or at least would be if he wasn't looking at the one causing all of this.

"Keep going, Akitsu!" he called. Akitsu's heart swelled and the snowfall became heavier. Mutsu tipped his sword sideways and allowed the snow to fall off the blade, before jumping to a new branch in order to shake it off of himself. Juusa was still cold, but wrapped her arms around her Ashikabi and soaked up his warmth.

Finally, when the June snowstorm had finally ceased, everyone was knee-deep in it. Her task complete, Akitsu tilted forward, Juusa rushing to stabilize her friend. Mikogami, his Sekirei unhurt, knelt down in the snow, the white melting through his pants. He still had his gardening gloves on, and began wadding up the frosty powder in his hands.

"Now then…"

A snowball suddenly smacked Mustu in the side of the face. Unfazed but most definitely annoyed, he opened one eye and glared at his Ashikabi, who was in the middle of sticking out his tongue.

"That's for being a buzzkill!" Mikogami heckled.

Mikogami's comeuppance came from behind, when a snowball splattered all over his back. He turned around, Akitsu and Juusa standing side by side.

The Ice Sekirei pointed to her counterpart, her face unchanging.

" _What?!_ " Juusa protested. Akitsu conjured an ice wall to stop Juusa's angry projectile, but was not prepared for the one Mikogami lobbed at her, the loose snow sliding into her open cleavage.

"You realize," Mikogami said, wadding up another one and slowly backing away to the tree where Mutsu balanced, "this means war."

A war that only escalated when Taki and Mitsuki, two more of Mikogami's Sekirei, came outside to see what all the noise was about. Juusa's snowball caught Taki in her midsection, her white dress absent in that area so she caught the cold full-force. Her Sekirei instincts took over and a cloud of mist masked her as she evaded, but was not prepared for Mitsuki betraying her by slipping a chunk of ice down her back.

And then someone made the mistake of hitting Mutsu again.

The Earth Sekirei opened his eyes to a maelstrom of snowballs, mist, and taunts being hurled around the back yard, a small ice fort visible around the shrubs where Akitsu had fortified her position. He hopped down and touched his scabbarded sword to a spot where Akitsu had frozen the top of the snow, in her previous attempt to trip up Mitsuki's mad dash from cover to cover. The sheath split the snow into neat little cubes; the ice formed a tin for him to serve up retribution. Wedging the sheath into the ice, one by one he flicked the squares at the warring parties, each one splattering them in the face like a classic slapstick pie. They were all knocked to the ground by how much snow they'd caught, leaving Mutsu free to stand up and make his way back inside.

"I win," was all he said.

Sitting up and brushing the snow off of her stinging flesh, Juusa looked at the one who'd started all of this, both of them winded from how excited they'd gotten.

"See?" Juusa panted. "Nothing to worry about."

At this, Akitsu smiled a little.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time Homura awoke back at the Inn, it was already morning. An entire roll's worth of bandaging covered his body, from the tips of his fingers to the ends of his toes. The fact that he could still move all trussed up like this could only be attributed to a minor miracle.

Speaking of miracles, his new Ashikabi was sound asleep on top of his knees in a sweatpants and sweatshirt combo, all of it green with a track stripe down one side. And from the knee down, it felt like his muscles were filled with white noise. The Sekirei slowly tried to move his legs, but the prickly sensation screamed at him to quit. What it failed to realize was that after the night he'd just had, this was nothing.

After regaining control of his landing gear, Homura's stirrings had roused Minato from slumber.

"Mmm… Morning, Kagari," he mumbled, sitting up without even realizing he'd put Homura's legs to sleep.

"Morning, Minato. How long have I been asleep?" the Sekirei asked.

"Uhhh…" Minato drowsily looked at the bedside clock, then back again. "Two days?"

" _What?!_ " Homura bolted upright, startling Minato out of his stupor.

"Well, yeah!" Minato scrambled to find words before the fiery Sekirei became angry. "You took a lot of damage during the fight and your whole body was covered with burns!"

Homura's alarm began to dim as Minato continued.

"Miya treated your wounds," he said. "I even called my mom and had her promise me the hospital was available if you didn't recover. I mean, she said I didn't have to _demand_ it, since she would've done it anyway…"

Homura smirked a bit at that. It seemed Takami was still watching out for him, Guardian or no. Or, more on point, his new Ashikabi was.

"Minato."

The former ronin looked at his newest Sekirei and caught a pair of knuckles playfully knocking against his jaw. "What was _that_ for?" he asked, rubbing the spot.

"When you were kissed me, you also became the first man to touch my chest," Homura said, still smiling. "Can't let you get away with _that_ one, can I?"

Minato turned bright red and looked down in horror at his hands. It made a grasping motion, one that put Homura a little on edge.

"You _will_ take responsibility for this, won't you?" the Sekirei demanded.

"Yeah, no worries!" Minato assured him. "I knew what I was getting into even before I kissed you, Kagari."

The Fire Sekirei shook his head. "No need for that anymore. Call me Homura."

"Oh, uh…" Minato smiled, still a little nervous about this whole thing. "Alright."

Homura looked at him sternly. "Say it out loud, Minato. I want your word."

The wheels in Minato's head tried to process what exactly he was getting all worked up about. They failed, so he just muttered, "I'll… Do whatever you need me to, I guess?"

Tsukiumi suddenly burst into the room, sending the gathered host of Kazehana, Musubi, Matsu and Kusano tumbling to the ground.

"Art thou a fool?! That is the _Sekirei's_ line!"

Minato tried his best but he couldn't help but screw his eyes shut and laugh. Homura had a chortle as well. He then noticed, getting up and sliding his legs out of bed, that someone was missing from this curtain call.

"Say, where's Uzume?"

"She went to the MBI hospital," Matsu informed him.

"Yeah, she was here 'til an hour ago," Ku said. She then turned to the Wind Sekirei. "Hey, Kazehana, what's a cold date?"

"A what?" Kazehana asked, looking down at the girl.

"Well, you said Uzume had a hot date," Kusano replied, looking up at the elder Sekirei, "so Ku was wondering what makes a date cold."

Kazehana smiled at that. "It's an expression, Ku-chan," she said obligingly.

"What's it mean?"

Kazehana leaned down and ruffled the little girl's hair. "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Grrr!" the Green Girl huffed as she crossed her arms. Clearly she was in a rush to grow up, if for no other reason than so people would start telling her things.

"A 'hot date'?" Homura asked.

"Kagedansu's getting out today," Musubi informed him.

"Geez, Musubi, it's not like he's in jail," Matsu joked.

"I dunno," Musubi replied. "I know _I_ wouldn't wanna be cooped up in a bed all day."

"I could say the same," Tsukiumi agreed. A heavy blush entered her cheeks and she placed her thumbnail between her teeth. "Though… Perhaps if it was with thee, Minato…"

Minato returned her blush, staring at his older blonde Sekirei. The younger one didn't take kindly to the show of affection, and grabbed her brother's leg, blowing a raspberry at Tsukiumi for good measure. The next thing Minato knew, he was caught in a dog-pile of women, all struggling to claim some part of him. All the while, Homura watched, safely sitting on his mattress.

 _So this is my life now,_ thought the Sekirei, eying his new Ashikabi. _I hope he doesn't expect_ _ **me**_ _to start acting like that._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you his tuner?"

"Nuh-uh." Did jeans and a pink shirt scream "scientist" to this old hag?

"Are you his Ashikabi?"

"No."

"Are you a relative of his Ashikabi?"

"Actually, I'm a Sekirei," Uzume said politely.

The receptionist, a woman with grey hair and a face like a dried-out prune, eyed her up and down. "Hospital policy states that Sekirei may not visit each other unless they're winged by the same Ashikabi."

Made sense, from a safety standpoint. Didn't make it any less annoying, though.

" _Are_ you both someone's Sekirei?"

Uzume shook her head. "But look," she said, leaning on the counter, "he's being released today, so either way, I'll see him eventually."

The old bag pointed to a nearby row of chairs. "Then take a seat, and don't start anything. I've got the Discipline Squad on speed-dial."

Sighing but not entirely sure what she'd been expecting, Uzume strolled over and plopped her shapely behind down in a cushioned seat. Ignoring the pile of magazines on the table in favor of the music player in her left jeans pocket, The Veil Sekirei opted to plug in and rock out.

 _The day when the sun turns into black,_  
 _I leave behind my land,  
For I have a mission sent from God!  
So I set out alone, not knowing right from wro-o-ong  
To FIGHT-THE-EEE-VIL ONE!_

 _My heart is made out of stone_

 _Something soars, through the sky,  
It's the draaaagoooonfly-yyyy!  
So I run like the wind  
This battle I have to wiiiin…_

 _We were chasing the the dra-gon!_ _  
_ _We were searching everywhere_ _  
_ _In the chase of the dra-gon._ _  
_ _Let the gods… lead-us-there_ _  
_ _In the chase of the dra-gon._ _  
_ _I sacrifice my blood, in the chase of the draaa-a-agoooon!_

She eventually got so into the head-banging goodness that she didn't notice when the person she'd been waiting for was sitting next to her, patiently and emotionlessly watching infuse herself with her daily dose of metal. That is, until he nonchalantly reached over and pulled one of her ear buds out, sticking it into his own ear and listening in.

"Hey!" she started to protest, but then saw who it was. At that, she pulled out her remaining earbud. "I'm sorry!"

He held up a hand, motioning for her to be quiet, while the other hand clamped on his open ear. She watched as he slowly got into rhythm, until his own head was bobbing along with it. She then wondered why, since the music was still playing, she wasn't also doing the same thing. Cocking her head towards him and plugging the bud back in to her ear canal, the two of them silently enjoyed this sample of Sweden's finest.

"It's okay," Kagedansu mumbled, pulling out the bud once the song was over. "Though _I_ should be the one apologizing for making you unplug. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Actually," Uzume said, managing to maintain eye contact and even add a non-nervous smile, "I was waiting for you."

Kagedansu blinked, his expression still neutral. "Huh." He seemed a little surprised by the notion. "I appreciate that. But what were you waiting for me _for_?"

"Well, uh," the brunette felt really put-on-the-spot when realized that she hadn't thought that far ahead in her plan. "To take you to lunch?" She beamed at him. "You know, to celebrate your successful recovery!"

He looked down at the floor, blinked a few more times, then looked back at her with a nod. "I'd like that."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Uzume munched on her hibachi and Kagedansu picked at his sushi rolls with his chopsticks, Uzume was tempted to ask about why he'd been so pissed-off when they'd fought. Obviously, she couldn't tell him about her secret double-life, but it was an itch that would not go away no matter how much she tried to make small talk with the stoic Sekirei. He seemed invested in hearing that Minato had winged Homura, but aside from that, she got nothing but polite, one-word responses from him. Finally, she could stand it no more.

"Say, I heard about your fight with the Veiled Sekirei a couple days ago," she started.

Kagedansu finally popped a piece of food in his mouth and swallowed it. "And?"

Not even questioning how she heard of it. Probably assumed one of her inn-mates had told her about it. That or, like his comatose brother was so often to, he just didn't care.

"Well, you didn't sound like yourself. What's up with that?"

His raised glass, full of crystal-clear ice water, was put down, and the barest hints of a scowl appeared on his face.

"I saw it again." The hint of scowl grew into a look of full-on hate, his hand clenching around the glass. "The night Homura was winged…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu sat alone in the dark, his arms crossed as he leaned back against the hospital bed frame, patiently waiting for the lights to come back on. He thought he heard a shift in the room, but the only other occupant was his comatose Ashikabi. Until…

"Technology can be _so_ unreliable, can't it?" came a slimy voice from beneath his bed.

He was suddenly very awake, and very on edge.

From underneath it came, moving silently as it slid out and up to stand next to Kagedansu, its silhouette once again inked in black.

"Thankfully, we have such a _lovely_ fire tonight," said Hametsu, gesturing out towards the window where Homura's flames could be seen. It shook its head. "Terrible shame if something were to happen to it."

Right away Kagedansu was flying out of the bed but was stopped dead in his tracks by a palm pressed against his sternum.

"Now now, Sixty-Seven, there's no need to become… _excited_ ," said the creature. "Did I hit you over the head when we fought? I thought you'd know better, what with the state _your_ in."

Kagedansu, try as he might, could not stop his attacker from forcing him back against his bedframe. "Besides, I try not to speak to soon-to-be-deceased persons, so you're quite safe."

Kagedansu, as he sat back down on the bed, sensed a "for now" at the end of that sentence.

"What are you up to?" he asked coldly. No sense in beating around the bush, not when another Sekirei might be in danger.

" _I_ , up to something?" Hametsu mischievously inquired, making a gesture that might've been daintily laying fingers on its chest. It shook its head. "No, my unworthy adversary, _I_ will be doing effectively nothing. From my place within the shadows, I shall watch as battle is joined between Sekirei, out of sight and out of mind. No, the only person you need concern yourself with," his voice dropped to a deliciously sinister murmur, "is a certain white-clad brunette who kills with weapons of cloth."

"The Veiled Sekirei…" Kagedansu whispered the name aloud.

"Yeees, the Veiled One. Very good!" Hametsu's conceited tone was rapidly getting on the Sekirei's nerves, what few he wasn't already stomping on. "An intriguing specimen, if I do-say-so-myself. A strong fighter, of course, and yet for some reason she feels need to violate the rules of the Plan."

"I know she didn't give her number when we fought, but that doesn't mean she's against the Plan." Kagedansu's objection was ignored.

"Still, I _do_ wish she'd find a more covert way to go about it," it said regretfully, rolling its eyes like it was talking about a naughty child. "If she's not going to watch over the fallen, and only targets those weaker than she _anyway_ , why even bother? Rule-breaking offers her no advantage from the way she's going about it. An ambush, to be sure. But is that all?"

It laid a hand on its forehead; Kagedansu couldn't see it, but from the sideways view of its silhouette, he could guess that it was massaging its forehead. "Ugh, flaunting her insubordination; not even _cheating_. It's just so… _pedestrian._ "

Kagedansu took that moment to sock Hametsu a good one. From the angle he was at as well as the prone position on the bed, Kagedansu knew the dark fiend could take it. But it still felt really good to plant a fist into that smug face.

"Oh. I'm sorry," Hametsu said cordially, finally turning its eyes to his bed-ridden victim. It rested its inky-black arms on its knees after sitting down in a guest chair. "You were saying?"

"I was _saying_ …" Kagedansu growled. "Why should I believe you? You've lied to me before, you-"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well…" Kagedansu trailed off as Uzume handed her black MBI card to the waitress. "I don't think I should repeat myself in mixed company."

Uzume frowned, the corner of her mouth tilted up. "Discrimination, Kagedansu?" she jested, leaning forward and pushing her breasts together with her biceps. "I didn't think you were _that_ backwards."

"What do mean 'that' backwards?"

Uzume propped her left elbow on the table. "Beat me at arm wrestling and I'll tell you."

The large Sekirei only caught on when he realized, placing his own left arm on the table, that he had just recovered from a major injury and putting stress on it probably wasn't the best idea.

"Oh, ha ha, make fun of the cripple," Kagedansu grumbled, rolling his eyes but still slightly amused. "Anyway…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hametsu was leaning on the far wall, and had a look in its eyes and toothy grin that suggested some deceptively human form of admiration.

"Weeeell," it mused enthusiastically, its shadowy hand swallowed up by the black silhouette of its jawline; Kagedansu could make out the faint sound of chin hairs being stroked. "That was… Creative. Almost clever, even."

As Kagedansu ground his teeth, Hametsu continued.

"To your question, we both know she's broken the rules before. You saw it yourself, yes?" Hametsu asked, pushing off the wall and pacing at the foot of the bed, keeping its eyes on him the whole time. "You know she has no qualms about violating _some_ rules, so why should you believe she follows them at all? Persons don't break the law if they believe they'll be caught, and there's a certain line that, once crossed, tends to lend itself a certain apathy towards lesser evils. You _must_ know to what I refer, yes?"

He did. It was an inherent truth to the Sekirei: they all had to be willing to effectively kill, if any of them wanted to win the Plan. Soon or later, even if a Sekirei managed to avoid it all the way up to the very last two, eventually, one would have to take another's crest. As much as he hated to admit it, Hametsu was making a valid point: once you've committed murder, what was giving your name to your opponent? What was watching over the fallen? What was even allowing MBI to catalog the victory? It didn't benefit the Sekirei that fought, just the persons who watched them fight.

Hametsu, still pacing, looked away towards the floor. "Which is why I'm left wondering why Number Three continues to show lenience…" It shrugged. "Oh well. One more thing for Ten to exploit, when the time comes."

Looking back, Hametsu stopped pacing as it saw Kagedansu's realization. It walked over and gingerly stroked Izanagi's face with a black finger.

" _Besiiides_ …" it slurred slimily, eyeing the Sekirei hungrily, " _Why lie when truth is_ _ **soooo**_ _much more fun?_ " The way it emphasized that word, it sounded aroused.

Kagedansu was up again, leaping out to rush the creature before it could cause further harm to his Ashikabi. In response, Hametsu pinched the boy's neck with its thumb and index finger, around the windpipe. The ill-named Shadow Sekirei stopped once again, knowing he couldn't risk his Ashikabi again, not after what happened last time. He slowly backed up and sat back down on the bed, earning himself a maddened, leering smile from Hametsu.

" _Gooood_." It released its hold on Izanagi and stepped away from him. "Perhaps there's hope for you yet, Sixty-Seven."

Then the lights came back on and Hametsu was gone in a blink, its silhouette instantly vanishing. Kagedansu breathed a sigh of relief, a sigh that was abruptly sucked back in when he heard the creature once more.

"Now, the question that _I_ have is…" Hametsu's voice, so faint that only his Sekirei ears could pick it up, was coming from the cavity above the ceiling tiles, where all the wiring was; his attention was drawn towards the window. "What are you going to do about _her_?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So I decided that if I couldn't beat Hametsu, I'd settle for taking out his pawn," he said as he arrived back at Izanagi's apartment, the two of them having taken the Sekirei Skyway there. Uzume bit back her revulsion at being called that. "I had some time to think more on the way there. Got myself more worked up the further I went, so when I arrived, I kinda lost it."

She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that she wasn't like that. She wanted to tell him about how Higa was twisting her arm; about how she was being forced to violate the rules for her Ashikabi's sake; about how she hated herself for agreeing to be Higa's attack dog; about how she would never look to take advantage of anyone's feelings for her to get the better of them in a fight; about how she would never in a million years ever associate with something as evil and revolting as Hametsu.

Instead she said, "But Hametsu just appeared last night. Do you really think he could hook up with the Veiled Sekirei so fast?"

In response, Kagedansu turned around and let his black gi slide down a bit, showing her his black Sekirei crest.

"A lot can happen in one day," he said, before sliding his attire back over his shoulders. "I'm more concerned with how he knew the Veiled One would be there."

"Well, _you_ fought him," Uzume offered, laying her hands on his shoulders.

His shoulders.

His toned, rock-solid deltoids and trapezii, full of power and die-hard endurance and yet still soft enough for her fingers to contort them, even massage them a little. She wondered what else he could… No! Bad thoughts! Now was definitely _not_ the time for her libido to start acting up!

"If he can move as fast as you say," Uzume continued, quashing the budding fantasy, "then couldn't he have just seen the battle, zoomed over to the hospital and then told you about it?"

Kagedansu sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm an idiot."

"Take it from me, you're not an idiot, Kage-kun," Uzume said, giving him a hug from behind. "No one would be in a good state of mind after going through what you did. Hametsu got under your skin, and you were looking for something to take it out on." _And to be fair, I'm not exactly innocent in all this._

Uzume felt her hands slowly pried free from his chest, and then found her face being pressed to his chest as he turned around and hugged her in kind, his nose and mouth buried in her chocolate-brown hair.

"Thanks, Uzume," he whispered.

 _Phew, got out of that one_. Uzume managed to keep her relief hidden as she reset her arms around his torso, her face pressed against his exposed chest. _Still… He was so quick to assume I was working with that creep_. _Is that how low people think I'll stoop?_

But, that could wait. For now, she decided to stand here for a while, comfort him, and catch a few more whiffs of that familiar yet alluring smell exuding from his chest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uzume returned to the inn later that afternoon, leaving Kagedansu alone in his brother's apartment to sort out a new deal with the landlord. Since Izanagi wouldn't be living there anymore (and she sincerely hoped Kagedansu was wrong about that, despite everything), it only made sense for the Sekirei to pay rent.

And she'd arrived just in time for lunch, too.

"As his real wife, it is my place to ensure he properly fed!"

"I'm his wife, too, so I can do that, too!"

"Hey, Miya, got any more to spare?" A chill ran down Uzume's spine as she entered the front door. "Alright, alright! I get it…"

"If you like, Kazehana, I might have something up in my lab kit."

"Really? How strong?"

"Pure, 100% alcohol."

"Aah-ha-ha! You're the best, Matsu!"

"Ugh…" That one was from Kagari. Or was he going by Homura now? Whatever the case, seemed the mealtime squabbles lost their charm when he became one of the participants, if against his wishes.

"Am I late?" Uzume said, poking her head into the living room.

"Not at all," Miya said sweetly. "There's always a meal waiting for you here."

Sliding between Kazehana and Matsu, Uzume chowed down and watched as Tsukiumi and Musubi fought over who got to stuff Minato's mouth. The dark-haired Ashikabi didn't look too pleased about it, but then again, he didn't try to stop them. Uzume's mind began to turn Kagedansu's words around in her head again, and apparently it showed.

"Something wrong, Uzume?" Homura asked, stabbing another forkful and hoisting it into his mouth.

"It's Kagedansu," she said. "Something's wrong with him."

Those gathered around the table stopped and looked at her, staring sullenly down at her plate, now empty.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with him going six kinds of nuts during our little outing, would it?" Kazehana asked.

"Yeah," Uzume replied. "See, he told me what happened-"

Which wasn't _entirely_ false.

"And the reason he was so bloodthirsty…" Uzume inhaled and prepared to bring down the mood. "Was because Hametsu paid him a visit."

All utensils and foodstuffs were slowly laid to rest on those plates which hadn't been swept clean. Musubi was the first to speak up.

"At the hospital?"

Uzume nodded. "During a blackout. He told me himself."

"Well, that was nice of him," chirped the fist-type. "But I thought MBI didn't have blackouts…"

"Yes, tis a most unusual occurrence indeed," Tsukiumi nodded. "And at such convenient timing."

" _Too_ convenient…" Matsu murmured, mirroring Tsukiumi's thoughts and laying a knuckle on her chin. "Did he know what caused it?"

"Doth it matter the cause?" Tsukiumi stood up, leaning her hands on the table and giving everyone an eyeful of her cleavage. "We all know whom is responsible for this. So what more is there to ponder?"

"If we know the cause, we can be better prepared. And we might gather more info about Hametsu's powers," Matsu replied. Kazehana nodded in agreement.

Tsukiumi turned her nose up at this and sat back down. "Hmph. Perhaps thou art not wasting thy time after all."

"We'll see," Matsu said, pushing herself to her feet and picking up her plate. She politely excused herself from the table and went into the kitchen, depositing her plate in the sink before moving upstairs.

The rest were left in silence, as awkward as it was long-lasting.

"Soooo…" Kazehana turned to Miya. "Now that all of us are winged, what happens next?"

Miya finished sipping her tea and set the cup down, her eyes remaining closed.

"Now the true battle begins. Stage Three of the Sekirei Plan."

The rest pestered her about what that meant, but Miya remained confident that Minaka would let everyone know in due time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And the very next day, while Tsukiumi was outside training with Miya, Minaka did.

"Good day, players and residents alike!" Minaka's image on the TV announced. "I, Minaka Hiroto, President of MBI, am pleased to announce the commencement of the next stage of the Sekirei Plan!"

Everyone in the living room sat to attention, as did the rest of the Ashikabi in the city.

"Stage Three will be a little different than what has come before," Minaka continued. "A series of battle royale-style competitions will be held at pre-determined locations throughout the city. To ensure fair competition, the matches will be strictly invitation-only. I advise you adhere to this rule, for those of you with lone Sekirei will be at a disadvantage against those with multiple. Rest assured, everyone will have a fair chance at winning a prize."

Once again, Minato had to remind himself of the fact that the man was insane and that the only reason he cared about fairness was so his Plan could hold together.

"And what are these fabulous prizes, you ask?" Minaka held up a gloved hand. In it was clutched a glass jewel, much like a diamond but longer from the middle polygonal edge to the pointed tip, opposite the flat top. Inside, his audience could see a small red sphere made of an unknown substance, though a few Sekirei privy to such knowledge described it as looking similar to their cores. Its last noteworthy feature was the "01" emblazoned on the front in soft, curved font.

"This, my dear players, is what is known as a 'Jinki'. There are seven other artifacts identical to this one, all numbered accordingly. One or more will be offered as prizes during these skirmishes, and it will be up to the players to obtain them. They'll be needed to participate in the final stage on Kamikura Island, so anyone who wishes to win the Plan will need at least one. Know that only the winners of these battles may carry them, and attacking an Ashikabi for his or her Jinki once the contest is over is strictly forbidden."

Pocketing the Jinki, Minaka continued.

"However, while the games are on, anything goes. Short of killing another Ashikabi, any participant may use whatever means they see fit to claim one. Yes, this includes suspension of the standard one-on-one rule of battle."

Minaka waggled a finger. "But I expect everyone to stick to it in the meantime. We have to be fair to our fellow players, after all."

Minaka spread his arms wide and took a step back.

"So train hard, little birds. In one week's time, the first match will commence, and the age of the gods will draw that much closer!"

And with that, TVs all over Tokyo clicked themselves off.

Minato was distraught, as was everyone else. It seemed Minaka was now going to force the hand of the usual pacifist Ashikabi (who were thankfully the majority) in order to fuel his game. Attacking someone before a match could eliminate unwanted competition, and stop them from being ganged up on. This meant that Minato would have to go around with two or more Sekirei to be safe, to let all the weaker Ashikabi know that he wasn't like them. The news was taken far better by Musubi and Kazehana, because now they had an excuse to spend more time with Minato.

And since the mood wasn't about to be brought lower, Uzume decided to recount, in full this time, Kagedansu's tale to Minato, Matsu, Kazehana, and Tsukiumi once she traded places with Musubi as the landlady's pupil. The Veil Sekirei was careful to leave out the mention of her number; since Matsu was here, the brunette was one search away from being outed, and then it was game over for her Chiho.

"So, Hametsu continues to torment him," Tsukiumi said disapprovingly. "The vile craven hath no spine for _true_ battle!"

"Of course, what else could it _possibly_ be?" Matsu sighed sarcastically.

"What is this? Dost thou doubt mine abilities?"

"Not your Sekirei powers," the brain-type replied, tapping her temple.

Tsukiumi's hand balled into a fist and her eyes blazed, matching Matsu's own irritation. Lightning sparked between them as their patience for one another slowly thinned.

"Now, guys, do we really need to do this now?" Minato pleaded. He slipped his arms around each of their waists and hugged them close. "Come on, we're all friends here!"

An enormous smile shotgunned itself onto Minato's face. Their beloved Ashikabi was many things, all of them wonderful, but an actor he was not.

"Right?" he added meekly.

A pair of sighs, half-weary and half-loving, were the response he got from his feuding Sekirei. And then his ribs were sandwiched between two pairs of very soft mounds.

"Thou makest a point, Minato," Tsukiumi said, returning his hug.

"Yeah," Matsu agreed. "It's not worth fighting over."

Minato's smile relaxed and grew more sincere. He wouldn't have been smiling if he'd seen his two Sekirei shoot one final glare at each other before Musubi appeared in her skin-tight T-shirt and workout shorts to jump on his back.

"Group hug!" she exclaimed.

And that was one invitation that neither Uzume nor Kazehana could say no to, joining in to take Minato's front. Hugs for everyone!

…

"Thou canst release my husband now," Tsukiumi said, clinging a little harder to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What did you wanna talk about, Matsu?" Minato asked, Matsu having called everyone up after dinner. Uzume was still absent, and Homura was resting in bed, but they'd fill him in on the details later.

"I tried taking a look around the hospital through the security camera footage from three days ago, to maybe see if anyone resembling Hametsu was lurking around the premises before the lights went out, but…"

"But what?" Kazehana asked, taking a swig of rice wine.

Matsu turned to her screens. "That blackout… It wasn't a power failure. It was a _really_ precise cyber-attack."

"What do you mean, Matsu?" Musubi asked.

She turned to her monitors and her fingers began to fly over the keyboard. "I got suspicious when Uzume said that the lights turned off. Musubi was right: if the power had gone out, then the backup generators would've kicked in automatically."

Kazehana leaned over her team-mate, trying to make sense of the layouts and footage playing on the screen. "So the bare essentials were left running, huh?" she asked, reading a screenshot of one worker's report on the matter.

"Yeah. Med equipment, elevators, outlets and doors were all left alone. Whoever did this, they knew exactly how the hospital's grid operates and how to tamper with it."

"Hametsu?" Minato had to voice what was on everyone's mind.

"If that's true, we can add 'expert hacking' to his resume," Kazehana said.

"It would make sense," said Matsu. "We know Hametsu can move freely through darkness like a ghost, so switching off the lights would give him free rein in the hospital's hallways, where there are fewer windows. We also know he can absorb knowledge from his victims, but I'm not entirely sure if that includes their skillsets as well. What I don't understand is why he also switched off the cameras."

"Tis simple," Tsukiumi said, folding her arms. "The vile miscreant seeks to mask his appearance."

"Yeah, but what for?" Matsu countered. "According to Kagedansu, he can hide his features, even in low-light. So what's the point of disabling surveillance?"

"And if he could get in," Minato added, "why wouldn't he just switch off the cameras and actual lights while he was there? You know, from the security console."

"Wait, I'm confused," Musubi said, sitting cross-legged. "Why was he there again?"

Minato and the other Sekirei paused to ponder the thought. Hametsu had proven himself to be a slippery foe, and he must've deduced that the Sekirei would go out and try to find him, because if he really knew everything Izanagi and Kagedansu had known, no _way_ could he convince himself that they would hide in fear while friends had been hurt.

So why, then, had he shown himself _just_ to tell Kagedansu about Homura and The Veiled Sekirei? He said that he was interested in both her _and_ Kagedansu, yet he'd wound the guy up and sent him careening at the elusive brunette like a runaway train. If they knew what his goal was they might at least _guess_ what he was up to. Was he a sadist as well as an egotist?

"Well," Musubi said, "At least now we can find out who The Veiled Sekirei is!"

"What do you mean?" Kazehana asked.

"Well, one of her friends said her number was 10, so all Matsu has to do is look her up!"

Everyone's faces lit up, Kazehana's not quite as much.

"Hey, that's right!" Minato exclaimed. "I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner!"

His loving brain-type Sekirei was already on the case. "I'll just access MBI's network, bypass the usual security like I always do and _oh, come on, really?!_ " Matsu whined. "Ugh…"

"A problem, Matsu?" Tsukiumi asked.

The Wisdom Sekirei sighed. "It's encrypted," Matsu said, tilting her head back up and squinting at the raw data zooming by the screen. "I think I can bypass it, but it'll take some time. Two separate encryptions, from what I can see. One looks like Kochou's work."

"Who's that?" Kusano asked, before Matsu could continue.

"She's another brain-type who specializes in electronics, like me. Last time I saw her file, she'd been winged by Kakizaki, Higa's secretary. Looks like they caught the leak before we did." She took a moment to digest all the information she'd seen, which would've made a typical computer programmer's head spin.

"And the first?"

"The first… Well, I don't know. But whoever did it was pretty amateurish... Wait, what's this?"

She clicked on an icon on the screen.

"An audio file?"

A quick scan showed no viruses, just a regular audio recording. Seeing no harm in it, Matsu wheeled her mouse over to the file and opened it up.

And, for the first time, the residents of Izumo Inn heard Hametsu's voice.

"You didn't _actually_ believe it that simple, did you?" he said. They knew instantly who it was. His voice was exactly as Kagedansu described: like smoke, half-whispering everything he said yet coming out clear as day, so ageless that it almost sounded inhuman, yet deep and gravelly enough to inch its way over to the masculine side of the spectrum. He promised wonders and secrets and horrors all in the same breath, talking like he knew something bad was going to happen to his captive audience but having no desire to share his knowledge, instead counting down the minutes to when their fate finally befell them. Kusano couldn't understand the language he spoke, since she'd been released before her MBI education could be finished, but everyone else recognized it as American English. To Tsukiumi, who had dabbled in higher Western culture, the scoundrel's faux British accent reminded her of a particular American actor named Vincent Price.

"Number 10 is of particular interest to me," Hametsu's recording continued. "I thought you might've at least gathered _that_ much from what my loyal courier told you. And we wouldn't want to spoil the reveal, now would we?"

He chuckled as Matsu continued to type, ignoring him but making no effort to turn off the noise.

"Aaah, Kagedansu. He's been so helpful: delivering every message exactly as I desired. I do hope he continues to perform well; 'twould be a shame to waste such a… _promising_ candidate. Do say hello to Uzume for me, if she's not there already.."

There was a pause.

"Oh, and Tsukiumi-san?" it asked, addressing her with an honorific even though it spoke English. It was hard to comprehend, but the group could almost _hear_ him smile.

" _I'll be waiting,_ " he slurred.

And with that, the file deleted itself, leaving the room in silence, save for the sound of Matsu's fingers furiously punching up code. After eight more seconds, she ceased.

"Aaaand got it!" she exclaimed, hitting the "Enter" key. "Sorry, pal, but this is _my_ turf!"

"Way to go, Matsu!" Musubi exclaimed, giving the red head a surprise hug from behind. "So, how long until we see who Number 10 is?"

Matsu's head sunk, and a bead of sweat in anticipation for what was to come appeared on her forehead.

"That's… gonna take a little longer…" she wearily sighed.

* * *

 **Author's comment:**

Stick around, because oh boy howdy, Stage 3 is going to be a fun time. And I know _someone's_ going to be mad at me at some point. At least, I hope so. Shows they care that much.

On a more positive note, what do you guys think of the new cover image? I redrew The Yellow Eyes to more resemble the art style of Sekirei, with the more angular, polygonal shape vs. my original almond-like design. I actually had to draw his face first, because my previous eyes design made his head look too wide.


	46. One Golden Glance

**Chapter 46: One Golden Glance (of What Should Be)**

At Shinto Medical, the hospital owned by the Higa of the East, a busty grey-haired Sekirei was hard at work combating her single-numbered counterpart. Though spots of sweat were appearing on her frilled periwinkle top, a bystander would never have guessed what was fatiguing her.

Hers was an invisible battle: not of might, but of mind. Fitting, since both she and her foe were brain-types, both with psychic access to electronics. The difference between them lay in technique. No. 22, Kochou, was more of a sledgehammer to her single-numbered counterpart's estoc: not hardly as subtle or precise with her coding, but with how fast she could reinforce her lock on No. 10's profile, she was giving the so-called Wisdom Sekirei a run for her money.

"How far along is she?" Kochou's Ashikabi, Kakizaki, asked.

Kochou came out of her Network Uplink trance and put her red half-moon glasses back on. "She's backed off for now, probably out of frustration," Kochou said disconnectedly. "I fear, however, that I may not be able to keep her out for very long."

"Hm. Well, as to be expected," Kakizaki said. "She is a Single Number, after all."

Kochou's head slouched a little bit at being dismissed. "I… I've been trying to rebuild the barriers surrounding Ten's profile while she's away."

"Very proactive of you," Kakizaki remarked. "What of the Jinki?"

Kochou shook her head. "Rooting through MBI's database has proven difficult. They've studied the Jinki intensely, apparently at the expense of human life. Nothing about where they're kept or what these battles may entail, though. Oh!"

Kochou started as she felt a hand massaging her left breast, her eyes widening. "Kakizaki, wait."

"What for?" he asked, his business-like tone no different than before. "I thought you Sekirei grew stronger with the bonds forged with your masters."

"Ye- _es_ …" It was getting harder to form words now that he'd slipped his hands beneath her top to fondle her directly. "Bu-ut not here! Not now!"

Her master wasn't letting up, only increasing his ministrations. He seemed to know on instinct which spots would set her off the most, because now her whole body was starting to tense up and her head tilted back to look at the ceiling.

"No one's going to catch us," Kakizaki murmured into her ear, taking a hand out and trailing it down across her stomach. "This is _your_ office, after all."

Kochou's eyes glazed over and her chest began to heave and fall harder and harder. If she didn't find a way out soon, her self-control would break and Kakizaki would get a full taste of the sleeping dragon he was probing.

"W… Wai…" Her objection melted into a moan as she began to melt into his arms. Loss of articulation meant she was nearing her limit.

But she couldn't pull away fully, too deep into her master's caress was she, and too intoxicating was it. Kochou took his hand, which had gotten dangerously close to her unsoiled flower, and raised it back to her breast, moving it around until he took control of it back.

"I suppose you're right," he said, abruptly stopping and taking his hands off of her. "Lock down Ten's profile further and then we'll continue this at home."

As Kakizaki opened the door and left a reinvigorated Kochou to throw herself back into the cyber-fight, he found his boss outside waiting for him.

Higa gazed at him past his nose. "A good plan," he remarked approvingly. "Every dog must be rewarded once in a while, lest it lose its spirit."

Kakizaki simply nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"I trust, though, that you won't lose sight of what they are," Higa said, a dangerous note entering his voice. "Never forget that at the end of the day, we're little more than tools to them, and vice versa. We unlock their power, and they obey us."

Once again, Kakizaki nodded, but remained silent as he and his employer parted ways.

 _With all due respect, that's not quite how I'd put it, sir_ , thought the secretary. He wouldn't dwell on it; he had his own work to finish for the day, so he could effectively prepare his homestead for Kochou's treat this evening. And despite how Higa viewed things, Kakizaki planned on enjoying it as well.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a modest apartment building, in the north-west corner of the city, Minato, Uzume, and Tsukiumi (of all people) waited at the front door.

"Dost thou even know if he's here?" Tsukiumi asked impatiently.

Uzume shrugged. "Where else would he be?" she answered, tugging on her pink top so it stopped riding up beneath her boob. "It's not like his hobbies involve a lot of outdoor stuff."

Minato agreed. "Though, I didn't know you cared about him so much, Tsukiumi," he remarked.

"Thy sentiment is misplaced," Tsukiumi told him. "Kagedansu may be a loud-mouthed braggart, but I will see him defeated by _my_ hand for the blow he dealt me."

"Oh. So does that mean _he's_ a worthy rival, too?" Minato asked.

Tsukiumi's anger distilled itself into a lethal glare that drove Minato to cower behind Uzume.

Uzume rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, lighten up, Tsukiumi."

Footsteps began approaching the door from the other side, then stopped.

"Who's there?" came the broken murmur of a once booming voice.

"Your friends," Uzume replied, eying the blonde. The Water Sekirei said nothing.

"What do you want?" Kagedansu asked, still soft-spoken.

"We're here to check up on you," Minato called. "We haven't seen you for a while."

"It's only been three days."

"Yeah, but you're usually around so much more!" Uzume pleaded cheerily, to the best of her abilities. "Come on! We miss your company!"

"I just wanna be alone for a while…"

"Kagedansu!" Tsukiumi barked. "Thou wouldst do well to appreciate our concern, and to not shut thyself out simply because fate hath dealt thee a low blow! Now open this door!"

There was nothing for a moment, then the door unlocked.

The three were greeted to the sight of Kagedansu, a long but thin cut on his face and his eyes completely bloodshot, standing in the door and wobbling on his feet.

"Come in," was all he said, before turning and shambling back inside. The three did so, and were immediately hit by the stench of unwashed laundry and old, stale takeout.

"Is this what thou callest a homestead?" Tsukiumi curled her nose in disgust. "Thou couldst offend a pig with such squalor!"

Kagedansu ignored her, as did Uzume. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"No," he said simply, shuffling along. "And no."

"Did something happen?"

"You know what happened."

"I think she means with this," Minato said, tapping his cheek as he started picking up trash.

Kagedansu glanced at him, just long enough to see where Minato was gesturing, then continued on through the living room. "I terminated someone. Number 28, I think. Don't remember her name."

"What? Why?" Minato asked.

Kagedansu looked at him as he flopped down on the floor in the bedroom, resting his melon on a stack of old pizza boxes with a head-sized impression in them. "All part of the Plan. If I didn't, then someone else would've. Eh, she wasn't much of a fighter anyway."

"Oh. Right. The Plan…" Minato stared at Tsukiumi, who was daintily stepping around old litter.

She caught his look. "Thou hast no cause for alarm. I shalt win and stay by thy side, Minato," Tsukiumi said, before turning her gaze onto Kagedansu. "Didst thou give thy name and number?"

"M-hm," rumbled the Shadow Sekirei, as Uzume decided to assist in picking up a bit.

"Didst thou remain to watch over thy foe?"

"Yeah."

Tsukiumi looked back at Minato. "Then _what_ is thy grievance, husband?"

Minato tried to explain, but before he could form words he got the feeling that it would be like trying plead a case for dogs to a cat. So instead he, too, began seeing to the trash. A can with a fresh bag lay next to the small stove, surrounded by crumpled-up pieces of paper.

Out of curiosity, Minato picked one up and unfolded it. On it was inscribed a strange symbol. It reminded him a bit of kanji. No, more like a Viking rune, as the lines were all as straight as could be, with hard angles in place of curves. The design itself was rather perplexing: an equilateral square turned diagonally with a line bisecting it horizontally. Another piece revealed a more simple design: a vertical line with a small diagonal dash drawn through the middle. Minato didn't really know what these had to do with anything or why Kagedansu was drawing them, so he took a sniff, determined that they weren't stained with anything unclean, and stuck them in the back pockets of the jeans he wore. The rest weren't like these two, more scribbled and marred with eraser marks, so he just threw them out.

When the former ronin looked back, Kagedansu was still on the floor, gazing at the ceiling. "Look, I know you guys are worried about me, but you have bigger problems right now."

"And yet we still found time to visit!" Minato beamed at him. After this, too, got no response, Minato swallowed a comment about how just because Izanagi wasn't here did _not_ mean Kagedansu had to pick up the slack in the "remaining totally stone-faced" department.

"'Brave New World'?" Tsukiumi read aloud from the other room.

"Oh, hey, I was wondering where that went," Kagedansu murmured, to no one in particular.

"What doth this drivel have to do with English literature?"

"Hey! That 'drivel' is great music!" Uzume protested.

"'Iron Mai-'. Fah! The day the Western arts took this into their number was the day Strauss turned in his grave," Tsukiumi scoffed.

"Didn't know you were classically trained," Kagedansu said, showing the first hint of enthusiasm they'd heard that day. "Piano?"

Tsukiumi met his gaze, frowning slightly. "Thou art correct…" she said slowly.

Kagedansu nodded. "I could tell just by looking at you," he said, before plocking his head back down on the boxes, leaving Tsukiumi to loot his Ashikabi's music collection.

"I keep seeing that bastard's eyes…" the large Sekirei whispered. "Every time I go to sleep, I'm either back in the park or at the hospital. And he's always right next to me, him and Izanagi, two reminders about how much I screwed up."

Uzume walked through the doorway and leaned over him. "You didn't screw up, Kage-chan," she said.

"If I hadn't kept Izanagi around, Hametsu wouldn't have attacked him. He might still be alive."

" _Or_ , and I'm just spit-balling here," Uzume began as she sat on the bed, the only piece of furnishing that remained well-kept.

Kagedansu bolted upright. " _ **GET OFF OF THAT BED!**_ "

Uzume was on her feet in an instant, hurt beyond all measure. "That's Izanagi's bed..." Kagedansu muttered, before leaning back down on his makeshift pillow.

Tsukiumi, who'd seen the exchange from outside, was beside herself.

"I have had just about enough of thy pig-headedness, thou sullen wastrel," she said, storming into the room and grabbing Kagedansu by the collar of his gi. She hauled him to his feet, dragging him all the way to the front door and tossing him out.

Minato inched up behind her. "Uh, Tsukiumi-"

"Silence!" she snapped, then turned her attention to the prone Kagedansu. She thrust a finger at him. "Thou canst mull around for the rest of thy days feeling sorry for thyself, or thou canst get off thine backside and do something about it. Thy self-pity wilt never leave if thou continuest to behave like a drunken reprobate. Regardless of thy decision, I'll reserve no further sympathy for thee."

The Water Sekirei grabbed her husband by the wrist. "Come, Minato!"

With his skinny human arms, Minato couldn't do anything but get dragged along, apologizing for Tsukiumi.

Uzume hesitantly looked out from the apartment at Kagedansu's form, still lying on the carpet and staring up at the next floor. Slowly, she slid out and approached him, The Shadow Sekirei still unmoving. Without saying a word, she looked down, still torn about how harshly he'd spoken to her, and moved on. All he did was let her pass, to be left alone to his thoughts for a while, turning Tsukiumi's harsh lecture over in his mind.

Then he went back inside and closed the door.

After that, he took a shower and zonked out on the bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uzume was out by herself for an hour or two, taking some alone time to let go. She'd never heard Kagedansu snap at her before, or at anyone. True, there was their battle a few nights ago, but all of her emotional barriers had been raised. This had come right out of nowhere, and Uzume couldn't talk herself into blaming Hametsu for _this_ outburst.

After moping around by herself, she decided to mope around someone else.

"Heeyyy, you're back!" Kazehana drawled, waving a half-empty bottle at the returning Uzume. The tipsy woman wavered a bit as she leaned on the staircase railing. "So, how did it go?"

"It went," was all Uzume said. Kazehana waited for her friend to elaborate, but she never did, continuing upstairs to her room.

"Hmmmm," Number 3 mused to herself, taking another swig before following.

She found Uzume sitting on the bedspread with her hair undone and her knees pressed to her ample chest, facing away from the door.

"Only two words, huh?" Kazehana asked, leaning against the door. "You wanna talk about it?"

Uzume kept looking ahead. "Do I make things worse for people, Kazehana?"

The Wind Sekirei walked in, suddenly very sober. "What do you mean?" she asked, sitting next to the younger Sekirei.

"I mean… Well, you know what I do. How I… What my job is." Uzume uncurled and lay sideways, resting an elbow on the hard wood. "I keep telling myself it's justified, that I'm doing the right thing. But I know if they ever found out, they'd never forgive me."

Kazehana offered Uzume a sip of her rice wine, and the brunette surprised her by taking a long chug before handing it back.

"So either I keep doing what I'm doing until I'm terminated, or they find out and hate me, or they die and I die with them. No matter what I do, someone gets hurt."

Kazehana knew better than to suggest Uzume might win the game. As much as she wanted to give her friend hope, that line of thought would be admitting defeat, and sacrificing a lifetime with her beloved Minato.

"Where did all of this come from?" she asked instead. Uzume recounted to her the events that transpired in Izanagi's apartment. When she finished, Kazehana was shocked.

"That jerk!" she cried. "Who does he think he is, snapping at you like that?!"

"Someone in a lot of grief," Uzume sighed, flopping on to her back.

"Honey, I know all about grief," Kazehana said, leaning over her and looking down, casting a shadow on her face and breasts, "and it's no excuse for bad manners."

"So… You don't think it's my fault, then?"

" _I_ think it's obvious," she said, a slight sneer of contempt curling the corner of her mouth. "Kagedansu's letting Hametsu get to him, and you're letting that get to you."

The Wind Sekirei leaned back and rested her head on the palms of her hands. "I'm not gonna pretend I like what you do, or that I entirely agree with it. Even now, I still don't really know the whole story, and I won't even bother asking again."

"Trust me," Uzume sighed. "If I thought there was a way you could help, I would've told you already."

"I figured," replied the Wind Sekirei. She sat back up. "But as far as making things worse, you're wrong." The elder woman slung an arm around the brunette's shoulders. "I can guarantee that life around here wouldn't be _nearly_ as much fun without you, and anyone who says different is a liar."

She took another swig of her rice wine, draining the last of it, then exhaled a cloud of booze vapor. "Besides, who else am I supposed to drink with? Matsu's trapped in the Inn, Ku's too young and no one else ever has enough!"

Uzume smiled at this. "Yeah, you're right." The brunette stood, helping Kazehana to her feet. "Speaking of drinks-"

" _Yeah!_ " Kazehana blurted out, grabbing Uzume by the hand. "Let's go!"

On their way down, they found a surprise visitor sitting on the front step.

"Kagedansu?" Uzume asked hesitantly.

The Shadow Sekirei didn't look at her, merely keeping his stare focused on the street. "Don't mind me. Just waiting for Minato to get back."

"Minato?" Kazehana repeated, then slowly flopped up against the larger Sekirei's back. "Heeeeyy, you don't happen to know where he is, do you?"

"On a lunch date," said Kagedansu as he pushed her off of him. "With Tsukiumi."

"Well, then I think I'll go join them!" the flush-faced boozehound declared, before being leashed by Uzume grabbing her wrist.

"Oh no you don't," said the brunette. "If you really think I'm going to waste an opportunity to drink you under the table, victory's as good as mine."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kazehana slurred.

"It means you have a head start," the black-clad loiterer commented nonchalantly, from his spot on the stoop. "And Uzume has a prayer."

Uzume smiled a little at that, leading Kazehana off. It was a sad attempt at a joke, completely axed by his recent outburst and dry delivery, but it was still an attempt.

 _Baby steps, Kagedansu,_ Uzume thought. _You'll be yourself again in no time_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato once more tried to talk his blonde companion into it.

"Tsukiumi, really, it's-"

"I'll not be swayed by thy misplaced pride!" Tsukiumi scoffed at him. "As thy wife, it is my duty to see to thy needs!"

"I know, I know, it's just that-"

Minato was cut off as his lovely "wife" stood up from her seat, picked him up underneath his arms and sat him on the edge of the table like a small child.

"I'll brook no more argument from thee, Minato," she said simply, bracing her fists against her hips and leaning in to his face. " _I_ shall be paying for the meal, and that-is-final." She emphasized the words carefully.

Staring into her ocean-blue eyes, Minato could only give a slow, courteous nod as his Sekirei backed off.

Once her MBI card had checked out, the couple headed home, taking the leisurely route on the sidewalk rather than having Tsukiumi carry him their through the rooftops. She walked in front of him, saying nothing to him, seeming as cold and distant as she had when she'd almost come to blows with Kazehana, that day before his kidnapping.

"Tsukiumi?" he asked. "Is… Something wrong?"

"Unfortunately," she said. She stopped at the mouth of a rather clean-looking alley and gave it a quick inspection. Spying no pedestrians or vagrants, she grabbed Minato by the hand and began dragging him down.

"Tsukiumi? Wait! Where are we going?!" He was starting to panic.

"To rectify a most egregious situation," she replied.

Once they'd rounded the corner, going down a ways further, Tsukiumi stopped storming and hauled Minato around in front of her.

"Tsukiumi-"

Any further alarm was quashed as The Water Sekirei threw herself at her husband, going straight for his mouth. Their lips met and her blue wings lit up the masonry, her arms pulling his head and chest against her own. On instinct, Minato tentatively reached up and began to fondle her, causing her eyes to widen and her lips to retreat as she reluctantly took his hand off of her breast.

"No, not here," she whispered, blushing furiously and looking away. "If thou continuest to touch me so…"

Minato realized what she was getting at.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he agreed, scratching the back of his head.

Tsukiumi was on him in an instant. "Do not apologize!" she barked angrily, jostling him about the collar. "I am thy wife and thou shouldst never be ashamed of showing thy love for me!"

"I'm-!" He caught himself in time. Had he finished that sentence she would've only gotten more riled up.

Tsukiumi's fiery expression softened and she released her husband after he'd been thoroughly shaken up. She cupped his cheek with her hand. "So, please…" Her face drew closer to his.

Minato wrapped his arms around her back and they resumed their kiss, the raven-haired teen falling back against the wall as they were both carried away on their affection. Good sense was once more abandoned in favor of their feelings for one another. Alas, after a few minutes of gentle tongue-dancing, they parted, a line of saliva still connecting their mouths, and resumed the journey home.

And when they arrived, Kagedansu was still on the step, chugging down what appeared to be a chocolate protein shake in his hand, the kind one would buy at a convenience store or a gas station.

"Been waiting for you," he said, standing up and stuffing the plastic bottle in his deep left pocket. He turned to Tsukiumi. "I decided to take your advice."

"Oh?" the Water Sekirei said. "And just what dost thou plan to do?"

"Toughen up _this_ guy," he said, stealing Minato away from Tsukiumi and leading him around the back.

"Hey, Kagedansu?" the teenager began.

"Stop _right_ there!" Tsukiumi angrily shouted, rushing towards the other Sekirei.

Kagedansu whirled around and stopped his fist just shy of smashing Tsukiumi in the face, as the Water Sekirei skidded to a halt and leapt back, her liquid blade at the ready.

The Shadow Sekirei lowered his fist and nodded. "Progress," said he, then shrugged. "Not much, but still progress."

Tsukiumi narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. "And just what dost thou mean by that?" she asked scornfully.

"You still jumped the gun and rushed in," Kagedansu said, leading Minato on. "If this were a real fight, I'd have clocked you good."

Minato's blonde Sekirei was left pondering his words, long enough for Kagedansu to get Minato around back and explain his plan.

"I'm going to teach you self-defense," he said.

Minato blinked, enthused and confused all at the same time.

"Y… Really?" He couldn't believe it. It felt like Kagedansu had read his mind. Ever since he got involved in this Plan, he'd kicked himself for being so useless when the going got tough. Yeah, there wasn't much he could do against a Sekirei, but there were plenty of non-superpowered thugs out there who might try to get the drop on him. "Wait, why now?"

Kagedansu sighed. "Because, contrary to what they think, your Sekirei might not always be there to protect you. And even if they are, there's no guarantee that they will."

At once, both men's minds drifted back to Hametsu, and how he'd snatched Izanagi's spark right in front of Kagedansu, the Sekirei helpless to stop him.

"Besides," he said, disinterestedly thumping his chest. "Manly pride says we need to be able to take care of ourselves, superpowered harem or otherwise."

"Please don't call them that…" Minato muttered.

"Well, you got a better name for your little following?" the Shadow Sekirei asked. "Because I'll call them that, if you like."

Minato shook his head. "Never mind. Just give me a minute."

After running inside to get changed, convincing Tsukiumi to let Kagedansu off the hook (again), and getting really excited as he changed, Minato returned in shorts and a T-shirt he'd worn the day before. No sense in wearing clean laundry.

"So," he asked, hopping up and down and throwing a few jabs in front of him. "Where do we start?"

Kagedansu pointed at the ground. "Push-ups."

Minato was down in an instant. "Okay, how many?"

"All of them."

The raven-haired trainee looked up. "What?"

Kagedansu squatted down in front of him. "Start pushing."

Minato, despite how out-of-shape he was and how scrawny his arms were, managed to do twenty before his limbs gave out and he flopped face-first into the grass.

"That was pathetic," Kagedansu said. "Do three more."

Minato struggled back to his top and, even though it felt like his arms would pop off at the shoulders, managed to pull it off.

"Good. Now do two."

"What?!"

"'What' nothing. You're not done yet."

And so two more it was, Minato's arms trembling as he forced himself halfway up one more time. He couldn't do the last one, as much as he tried to, as his arms refused to cooperate any longer. But he still kept at it, caught in a deadlock.

"Do this one," Kagedansu said, shifting over until he was next to his student. "And we'll take a break."

Those words broke the stalemate, and push-up number 25 was cleared. And thank goodness, because that grass and that dirt had never felt more comfortable.

"Alright. Now leg-lifts.

"No break?" Minato murmured, the lawn muffling his inquiry.

"I said we'd take a break. Didn't say right away."

Minato groaned loudly. Still, he should've suspected this, considering how much meat was packed on to Kagedansu's bones.

"Hey, Minato!" a peppy feminine voice called.

Minato dragged his face across the grass to see Musubi, or rather Musubi's white panties, squatting down opposite Kagedansu.

"Are you participating in the Plan now?" Musubi asked. "Because I really don't want to fight you."

"Noo…" Minato sighed, and then was dragged to his knees as Musubi hugged his face to her chest.

"Thank goodness!" she cried. "The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt you, Minato!"

"Thanks, Musubi," Minato replied, returning her hug.

His instructor let it go on for a minute, then yanked him off of his Sekirei, making Musubi pout with anger.

"Meanie!" she muttered, crossing her arms and turning away.

"Don't like it?" Kagedansu said. " _You_ train him, then."

"No, I already have to train with Landlady-sama," Musubi huffed, standing up and storming off. Minato almost laughed. Compared to Tsukiumi, Musubi's anger was child-like, and yet both of them were equally enthused about battle.

"Anyway," Kagedansu said, turning back and pushing Minato on to his rear. "Leg-lifts. Ten each."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Uuurrrrghh…"

Minato hurt all over: arms, legs, abs, shoulders, Kagedansu even found a way to wear out his neck. And then, after all of that, he made Minato jog two laps around the Inn. Any distance, no matter how short, was absolute torture when his limbs were filled with depleted uranium.

Not even the promise of food was enough to get Minato on his feet, simply collapsing on the grass as Musubi sparred with the Landlady.

Except Miya was the only one sparring, not Musubi. Oh, no, she was going all-out, using her Sekirei strength and speed to attack and dodge, yet Miya held her own without so much as a bead of sweat staining her kimono. Compared to the rigorous exercises he'd been doing, Musubi might as well have been climbing mountains.

Musubi's next break came and Minato was still in no hurry to move again, Kagedansu waiting patiently for his trainee to pull it together.

"What's wrong, Minato?" the bubbly brunette asked, wiping the perspiration from her forehead.

" _Tiiirreed…"_ he wheezed.

"Oh, poor Minato…" She knelt down on the ground, lifted his head up, and slid her bare thighs beneath it. Lying against Musubi like this (and staring up at her chest) didn't help matters, as it only made the lad less inclined to move his weary limbs.

Musubi then cupped his head with her gloved hands, lifted it up some more, and gave him an upside-down kiss. Her soft, gentle lips instantly made his limbs feel lighter, and he recalled what that MBI doctor had said about Ashikabi and Sekirei sharing power.

After a little while, Musubi pulled up and opened her eyes, which were sparkling in the shadow cast by her face, her beautiful pink wings already having dissipated.

"Feeling better, Minato?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. A lot, actually."

"I'm glad," she said, before leaning down to kiss him again. Once more, it felt great, and not just because a beautiful girl was pushing her mouth against his own. Musubi repeated the process several times, until she was blocked by another feminine hand.

Musubi sat back and look at the hand's own. "Oh, hey Tsukiumi! Do you want to kiss him now, too?"

The blonde in question was wearing nothing but a towel, her bath having been interrupted by her wifely instincts.

Tsukiumi simply nodded, and knelt down on the grass. Her freshly-cleaned kneecaps received fresh dirt and grass stains, but 'twas a small price to pay for showing her love to her husband. And she did so, her kiss far more aggressive and possessive than Musubi's but no less fulfilling for her or for Minato. When the fire in her blood faded along with her blue wings, a shadow loomed over them.

"My my, you look very indecent right now," Miya sang, her hanyo mask appearing behind her.

A moment later The Water Sekirei was rubbing the top of her head as the Landlady retracted her wooden sheathe. Then Tsukiumi was shuffling back inside to take another bath, Musubi following once a few more loving lip-locks allowed her Ashikabi to sit up on his own.

Soon enough, he was instead sitting at the dining room table, with Kagedansu in the kitchen. And dear God, he was hungry.

The beefy Sekirei came out with a carton of eggs, a gallon of milk, a bottle of chocolate syrup, a plate, a plastic stirring rod and two tall glasses. Sitting opposite Minato, he cracked open two eggs and deposited one in each glass before filling them up with the milk. Depositing the egg shells on the plate, he sprayed a generous amount of chocolate syrup in each before stirring them up.

Minato gulped his down hurriedly, Kagedansu taking his time a little more.

Wiping away the milk moustache on his upper lip, Minato asked, "So, what else are we having?"

Kagedansu frowned. "What do you mean, 'else'?" he asked, cracking two more eggs.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Don't start the '80s training song yet, folks. You'll wanna save that for a later chapter.


	47. A Hard Day's Night

**Chapter 47: A Hard Day's Night**

 **Author's note:**

Just so everyone knows, this isn't the last chapter that'll get an overhaul. Chapter 2 was greatly expanded recently, now this, and I'm planning on cleaning up other chapters before this fic is done. Of late I've been skipping over parts of my own work. That bothers me.

* * *

Minato was tired.

So very, _very_ tired.

From Kagedansu's former gregariousness, no one would guess that he was an absolute _slave driver_ when it came to training. Minato had been given exactly one hour to rest up before Kagedansu had hauled him back outside for another round. Not as many repetitions this time, obviously, but enough so that when The Shadow Sekirei called it quits, Minato's initial idea of "No, I can go a little more" was dead in the water.

Just like how he was dead on his futon, having barely had the strength to bathe himself (Homura, being a man upstairs if not downstairs, volunteering to join him), get into his pajamas (Matsu's offer of "assistance" was rejected by Miya), and now lay making a sound like bending rubber as every muscle in his body had a sit-down strike.

Though, the feeling of Tsukiumi and Kazehana's breasts on his back was nice.

"I told thee: as his real wife, _I_ shall see to his pains!" She was doing a pretty good job, too; she seemed to know where his muscular knots were located, untangling them and easing him closer to actual sleep.

"I think that should go to whoever has the best hands." Kazehana leaned down next to his ear, working her way up to knead his right bicep. "What do _you_ think, Mina-kun?"

Minato sucked in a lungful of air. "No thanks, it's too late to start a fight," he wheezed. "Uuugghhh…"

"What's wrong with Minato?" Musubi asked, appearing in the doorway.

"Kagedansu hath tuckered him out," said Tsukiumi, increasing her ministrations to compete with Kazehana. "Not a single piece of our Ashikabi was spared, the tyrant!"

"Muscle inflammation, huh?" Matsu passed by in her pink nightie. "I think I might have something for that…"

"I got it! I got it!" Musubi leapt into the air.

"Wait, Musub- HURRRG!"

Minato's words were choked out as Musubi open-palmed him right in the middle of his back. Her hand quivered where it struck, causing Minato's whole body to seize up for a moment, like he was a spider being squashed.

Then his arms and legs fell limp, and he let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Thaaat… Wow," he said. He flipped over and sat up, cross-legged. "Thanks, Musubi."

The brunette cocked her head and sat on her heels in front of him, beaming brightly. "Always happy to help."

Her work done, the bubbly brunette pressed herself against her Ashikabi and toppled him over, the two of them falling asleep in an instant. Tsukiumi violently shook Musubi, that Number 88 might listen to her raucous objection, but the fist-type was out cold.

Perturbed, the blonde eyed Kazehana, who just shrugged and removed her purple dress. Miya had already gone to bed, and an oncoming ladle-knock in the morning hadn't stopped them before.

Disgruntled, Tsukiumi lay down next to her husband and sank his arm into her cleavage, Kazehana no doubt doing the same (as was her way). The only reason she was allowing this, Tsukiumi told herself, was because Kazehana had deigned to put on panties. As much as The Water Sekirei was loathe to share, she couldn't fault Number 3 for wishing to be nude around Minato. He was, after all, quite the handsome spouse.

What she _could_ protest to, however, was Kazehana inching up to kiss Minato on the lips before sliding back down to where his deltoid could rest comfortable between her mammaries. Tsukiumi was quick to amend this, kissing him so hungrily that he was momentarily roused from his slumber by the intensity of their shared bond. For Minato's one true wife, that was victory enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"All right, rise and shine."

Minato suddenly found himself hauled out from underneath his pile of Sekirei by the ankle, staring upside-down at Kagedansu's knees. Or rather, where Kagedansu's knees would be, if those pants weren't so good at masking his physique, before the large man dropped Minato on his head.

"Ow!" Minato rubbed his sore noggin as the Sekirei on his bedroll began to stir, detecting the absence of their beloved Ashikabi. "What are you doing here this early? It's only 7 AM!"

"The average human body needs only four hours of sleep to function," Kagedansu replied nonchalantly. "Eight is plenty. Now get up and stretch. Hope you like red meat."

With that, The Shadow Sekirei left. Minato found himself assaulted by overly-affectionate women.

"Morning, Mina-kun!" A soft pair of cushions leaned on his front; two feminine arms wrapped around his neck. Kazehana leaned in and gave him a long kiss on the jaw, just below his ear.

"Urgh, it's way too early for this," Matsu grumbled, rubbing her bloodshot eyes.

"For what? Twas thine own fault that thou wert up 'til all hours," Tsukiumi scolded the redhead. "And Kazehana! Thou art smothering my husband!"

"Well, _of course_ ," the sultry Sekirei replied playfully, burying her mouth beneath his ear and looking back at Tsukiumi. "You _looove_ being smothered, right, Minato?"

"Minato…" Tsukiumi grabbed his arm and hugged it to herself. "Why must thou neglect thy _real_ wife for this trollop?"

"I'm awake!" Musubi chirped, bolting upright and kissing Minato full on the lips.

"Hey! No fair, Musubi!" Kusano squawked, the little girl pulling on her big brother's pajamas. "I want a good-morning kiss, too!"

Minato did his best to not cringe while still lip-locked with Musubi. When the uppity brunette released him, he wriggled free of Kazehana's embrace and gave Ku her own kiss on the cheek. It wasn't exactly what Ku wanted, but the sparkling of the Green Girl's eyes showed her satisfaction.

As usual, Tsukiumi was livid seeing him kissing other women, aiming a glower at Musubi, who just smiled back.

"If you don't like watching him kiss us, just close your eyes," said Matsu. "Like this." She demonstrated by framing Minato's face with her hands and further maddening the maddened blonde. To be fair, though, she _did_ close her eyes.

Before Tsukiumi could get a kiss for herself, Number 67 barged in again and absconded with Minato, much to the shock of his Sekirei. Tsukiumi looked ready to race down and commit bloody murder from the way her jaw clenched and a vein bulged on her head, but with pursed lips she bit back her mounting fury.

Down in the kitchen, Minato was slapped into a chair where a huge chunk of cooked beef waited on a plate.

"You can't dawdle in a fight," Kagedansu said. "Break your bad habits now, when they don't matter, so when they _do_ matter, you won't fall victim to them."

"But... Do you really think they-"

"No." Sixty-Seven interrupted him. "And not forever. Just until you're more trained-up."

"That's a relief," Minato nervously chuckled. "For a moment, I thought you were telling me not to see my girls." Kagedansu shook his head, compounding Minato's reassurance. Training or no, that was simply something he could not do. Never mind how much amorous affection they showed them, Minato truly did love, well, loving them.

It was then that he realized what he called them aloud, and mulled it over while he took a forkful of meat.

 _My girls…_ He cocked his head to the side while Kagedansu began to down glasses of his eggs-milk-chocolate concoction, hunks of cooked chicken in front of him.

The young Ashikabi repeated the words in his head a few more times, trying them on for size, seeing how well they rolled off the mind's tongue. ' _My women'? No, that's worse… But I still don't know if I'd call them that. I don't_ own _them… 'My Sekirei'? Eh, that_ kinda _works, but it's just not the same…_

"Wow, that smells _really_ good!" Kusano chirped as she slid up alongside her big brother. She snatched the piece off of Minato's fork and ravenously shoved it in her mouth.

"Would you like some, Kusano?" Minato insincerely chided. Kusano pouted at this. Keeping her angry eyes locked on Minato's, she reached over, grabbed the sizzled sirloin and took off running.

"Hey, you! Come back here!" Minato play-chased her around the kitchen while the Green Girl continued to gnaw on the meat-slab. When she almost slipped and fell, saved by Kagedansu shooting out a hand to catch her, she surrendered what handful (by her standards) of breakfast still remained.

Minato squatted down and looked at Kusano's hand, covered in brown juices, then at the scrap of food that she'd relinquished.

"I needed this for my training," he told her.

"Well, Miya-sama says I'm a growing girl, so-I-needed-it-more!" Kusano replied, crossing her arms.

Minato dropped the act. "Well, can't argue with _that_ logic," he said, ruffling her hair. "Just be sure to ask next time. Promise?"

Kusano softened up and hugged him. "I promise."

Feeling a handprint-shaped spot of wetness form on the back of his shirt, Minato stood up and told Ku to go wash her hands. No, licking them did _not_ count.

Fortunately for the former _ronin_ , there were some leftovers from last night's dinner that Miya had saved for him, so Minato wouldn't starve after all.

"You know, Kagedansu," Minato said, "I had no idea you could cook."

At this, Kagedansu halted, his eyes still staring at the glass before him. "Because I can't."

Minato swallowed more food but it did nothing to quell the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Kagedansu shook his head. "Whatever. I'm not gonna let that distract us. It's not like Hametsu's culinary skills are a threat to anyone."

Minato had to agree. Though for the sake of his gut, he also had to wonder if Matsu had been right, if Hametsu had left other surprises in Kagedansu's psyche.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kagedansu worked Minato half to death for whole hours, even participating in the exercises himself after Minato's engines started to lose steam. Minato didn't exactly understand why; even with the Sekirei encouraging him, with remarks of, "Come on, get to me" or "just a few more", Minato was still left with a few trust issues.

It became clear why when he glanced over to the side and saw Ku, Matsu, and Kazehana sitting with Uzume, watching them.

Minato's male instincts immediately lit a fire under him, demanding that he prove his alpha status. His rational mind knew that was a bunch of bologna, since he could never hope to challenge someone like a Sekirei in physicality, but that didn't stop his _other_ head from spurring him on. And it sure helped, because it seemed that his movements began to become more efficient. What was bone-tiring yesterday was less so today, the scampers across the grass less taxing on his limbs to the point where he was able to get two more done than before.

Once more, there was no instruction on fighting, just grueling exercise after grueling exercise. No muscle was spared, no part of Minato's body left undamaged. After about two and a half hours of training, with a few ten-minute breaks to avoid risk passing out, Minato had a long lie-down on the grass, covered in sweat. So, naturally, Kazehana and Matsu came over to provide comfort, only for the Wind Sekirei to be pulled inside by the Landlady.

So that left Matsu and Kusano with Minato all to themselves, as Uzume got a call to be somewhere. She said farewell to Minato and his Sekirei and then departed. Just when his breather was about to end, though…

"WHAT IS THIS? WHY MUST I BE MADE TO WEAR THIS PALTRY ATTIRE?!"

Kagedansu and Minato were naturally curious to see the outfit that had set Tsukiumi off, since what she usually wore didn't exactly leave much to the imagination. His student was incapable of walking, Minato's legs still in the process of re-solidifying, so Kagedansu lifted him by the waist and effortlessly carried The Scrawny One inside.

They found Musubi, Tsukiumi, and Kazehana in the hallway, all of them wearing French maid uniforms. Tsukiumi, from how she had Musubi about the collar, seemed to be on hold from shaking her. Kazehana was too busy examining herself. Minato did the same to all three, which only Number 3 noticed.

"You like?" she smiled, jiggling her hips at him.

"And _why_ must _I_ be made to do chores?!" Tsukiumi squalled, resuming Musubi's jostling. Whatever answer Musubi had given, it hadn't been a good one. Then again, this was Tsukiumi, talking to Musubi, so likely that the latter had opened her mouth _at all_ had upset the blonde.

"Because," Miya said, stepping through the kitchen doorway holding a trio of baskets, "those who do not work shall not eat."

Her hanyo mask held everyone's attention, even the two males.

"I'm aware of your capability to pay rent, Tsukiumi. However, as you are Minato's Sekirei, and his wife-"

This made Tsukiumi dip her head a little and Kazehana's eyebrow raise.

"- _and_ seeing as only two of your number pay weekly rent, I think a few chores is a rather generous compensation." Miya's smile remained unchanged but the hanyo's aura flared darker. "Don't you?"

The three women sputtered replies, even Musubi, who'd gone limp in Tsukiumi's hands.

"And," Miya said, pocketing her hanyo in whatever satchel she kept it in, "whoever comes back first gets to sit next to Minato tonight."

The two sweaty guys could see the sparks flash between the three women, and in the next moment they were off down the sidewalk so fast they rattled the picket fence.

Kagedansu set Minato down, having given him enough of a break, as he made his way into the kitchen. "We'll start again when they get back," said the Shadow Sekirei. A thought occurred to him, and he turned left through the front door to go sit up on the roof. Any thoughts Matsu may have had about taking advantage of her Ashikabi, lounging in the hall, were quashed by a warning from Miya, so she went back upstairs to chug away on the mysterious Number 10's profile.

Fifteen minutes later, during which Ku played (dead) horsey on Minato's back, the trio of enthusiastic women returned.

"I'm ho-ome!" Kazehana sang. "And first."

"And I'm second!" Musubi exclaimed, appearing shortly thereafter.

"Thou cheater!" Tsukiumi panted. "Thou used the wind to lighten thy load!"

"Oh my," Kazehana chaffed, her smirk wide as a cat's. "Sounds like someone's a sore loser."

"Actually," Kagedansu hopped down just behind Tsukiumi, "the wind picked up when you passed by. And if I felt it on the roof, it wasn't the wind of your passage."

Kazehana's bright smile became weighted with guilt, damning her in the eyes of her accusers. To which Kagedansu said, like he was one of Minato's professors, "I had a feeling you might try to cheat; it's why I went up there. Next time, be a bit more covert."

He shook his head in pity and dragged Minato back to the salt mines, there to continue his harsh physical labors until supper time.

Before he could, though, he felt a matured but feminine hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," Kazehana gently spun him towards herself, "would you be up for a little get-together a few nights down? You, me, Uzume, maybe Musubi and Tsukiumi?"

"What for?" The Shadow Sekirei asked, still gripping the back of Minato's shirt.

"The first fight of Stage Three is coming up, and after that, we might have to stop seeing each other."

Minato looked up at the owner of the fist holding him, then back at Kazehana. "Will we _have_ to, Kazehana?"

"That's the way it is," Kagedansu rumbled. "Sekirei have to fight until only one remains. Like it or not, sooner or later, we'll have at it, and one of us won't walk away. That kind of thing leaves bad blood."

"So I thought we'd all go out and enjoy one last hurrah together, just us Sekirei." Kazehana could see the wheels in his head turning, slowly digesting her suggestion. Wait, was… Was he _actually_ considering him and Uzume being double-crossed? Actually, now that she thought about it, it _did_ kind of sound like a set-up.

"We can do it at a greenhouse I know about," Kazehana said. "Glass panels all around. You can see the night sky from inside."

She turned her cat-grin on Minato. "Very romantic," she purred seductively.

Minato blushed, which Kagedansu missed, and the Shadow Sekirei nodded. "All right. But I'm not walking anyone home if they're wasted on booze."

"Deal." The Wind Sekirei leaned down and gave Minato a wet one on the lips, moaning as she felt his tongue meet her own.

"Thou shoult finish thy chores before cavorting my husband!"

Kazehana was yanked back by Tsukiumi, reminded of the fact that she was still carrying groceries.

"I'll be thinking of you, Mina-kun!" she called. Minato had a somewhat blissful look on his face, which, unfortunately, Kagedansu _didn't_ miss.

"Feeling better?"

Minato snapped out of his reverie. "Errr… No?"

"Tough," said the Shadow Sekirei, lifting him to his feet and then shoving him along. "You've been sitting down long enough."

The Ashikabi tried to object but Kagedansu just pushed him again, sending him stumbling out the back door. Minato knew better than to fall down and fake how tired he was (Kagedansu had already gauged his limits from their first session). Still, no pain, no gain. And for Minato, there was plenty of both.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three days went by fast. And for time during the Sekirei Plan, not much went on.

Musubi and Tsukiumi ran into Seo while out grocery shopping. The sixth-year college student asked about Minato, and Musubi of course wasted no time in giving him the full discourse.

"- and he's such a sweet guy. I know he loves me and I'd do anything to make him happy, because I know he always does for us. His love is-"

The twins sighed with exhaustion and envy, and even Tsukiumi, despite Musubi's chattiness, found her bust a little more full that day, knowing that her echo-skulled friend spoke true.

Before he left, Seo mentioned that Minaka would probably pit them against each other in the first match.

"And wherefore dost thou believe this?" Tsukiumi asked, semidetached.

"Well if I were Minaka looking to settle a score, I'd use the Game to do it. It's how he operates: he knows he's the one running the show so he can arrange it however he wants. Besides, he already said the big players would be first in the round, so all he'd have to do is let everyone take three of their Sekirei, seed us into it," he gestured to Hibiki and Hikari, "and that would leave me with these two."

Seo scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, probably just three, if he's including the Discipline Squad."

Seo slung an arm around each of the twins' shoulders, leaning heavily. "Course, if Minaka knew them like I do, then he wouldn't be so confident."

"Stop it, Seo." Despite Hikari's protest she was actually blushing a little.

Tsukiumi bowed to the twins, a courteous smile complementing her radiance. "Then I look forward to facing thee, honorable opponents."

"Same here!" Musubi shouted, mimicking Tsukiumi's gesture.

Aside from that, those three days were pretty much cookie-cutter average. Up at seven when Kagedansu showed up at the Inn, meals, petty squabbles, hanyo masks, surprise fondlings (mostly Kazehana), surprise nightmare fuel ( _entirely_ Matsu), kisses good night, kisses good morning, kisses because why-the-hell-not, and plenty of protein in Minato's diet.

Yet despite all the chicken, fish and beef Minato had been fed, he didn't really feel any stronger. Kagedansu had switched to him hauling around big rocks, which he got from the downtown urban blight: chunks of decayed buildings that no one cared about since MBI bought and abandoned them. It was tough, and Minato had to buy a pair of leather gloves to avoid flaying the skin from his bones, but for his money it sure beat doing push-ups and sit-ups.

Maybe it was because he got to show his girls (again, still didn't feel right…) that yes, he _did_ lift.

When nightfall came on the final day, Kazehana's party-plan didn't go quite as well as she'd hoped, at least initially. Musubi hadn't been interested in drinking, saying that she got more than enough time with Kagedansu while he trained Minato and that she didn't need a special party to appreciate his and Uzume's company.

Uzume had accepted, though she showed a little hesitance when Kazehana mentioned Kagedansu would be there. Hopefully, the two of them would be able to patch things up. The Wind Sekirei hated it when friends didn't get along. And oh, how she wished they'd just confess already! It was plain as day to anyone with eyes!

Tsukiumi, predictably enough, had scoffed and stated that her place was with her husband; a bender with her romantic rivals was beneath her. Kusano seemed to agree with the sentiment, never mind that she was too young to drink. Still, it had been worth a shot.

However, replacing the blonde and taking a shot of her own was someone that no one expected to show up.

"Shouldn't you be hiding back at the inn, Matsu?" Uzume asked as Kazehana poured her a cup of sake.

The brain-type, wearing a skin-tight black racing suit with the middle zipped down to her cleavage, shook her head. "Nah, Minaka wouldn't waste time with me. That, uh, _thing_ that I took is back at the inn, and even if he terminated me, he still wouldn't get it. Miya would still be there, _it_ would still be there, and Minaka wouldn't be any closer to getting it back. He's insane, not petty."

"What 'thing' did you take?" Kagedansu asked.

The three females all eyed each other.

"Women's secret. Can't say," Matsu stated. Kagedansu shrugged and downed his shot.

"You could wait until _after_ the toast, you know! Slow down there!" Uzume laughed. Kagedansu pursed his lips and held out his cup again, grumbling all the while.

After Matsu had filled hers again, she held it up. "To friendship and love, no matter what plan we're involved in!"

"I'll drink to that!" Kazehana cheered, clinking her ceramic container against her lifelong friend's.

"Screw Minaka, and screw his stupid plan!" Uzume declared, joining in on the clinks.

"Here's looking at you, kid, I dunno, maybe…" was all Kagedansu murmured, shooting a glance at Uzume. While the three women then drank, the Shadow Sekirei was busy looking perplexed by his own choice of words. Regardless, he held off until his brunette companion had downed her booze.

"And, Uzume?" This got her attention. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It was out of line, my mood was no excuse, you deserved better than that, I'm an idiot, and as a friend, I should've treated you better."

Uzume smiled warmly at him, then gave him a light thump on the head. "How many times do I have to tell you you're not an idiot, you idiot?" she joked. Sixty-Seven closed his eyes and nodded, then downed his second liquor shot. Immediately, he began wobbling from side to side, his pupils opening and closing in-and-out of focus. Uzume quickly slid behind him and prepared to cushion his head when the poor guy finally checked out.

But after giving himself a good smack in the forehead, the most lightweight of heavyweights managed to hold his liquor.

"Ha! Never thought I'd see the day," Uzume guffawed, sliding back and pouring herself another glass.

"Ooooh, yeah…" Kazehana hissed in delight. "That's what I'm talking about." Poor Kagedansu was so quick to down his drink, he never savored the burn. Given his handicap, she couldn't blame him. He'd never rise to a more _sophisticated_ level of drunkard.

Not that Uzume wasn't trying her damnedest.

"Feeling lucky?" the brunette asked him, offering him not just a shot but the remaining half-liter left in the bottle.

Kagedansu waved his hand. "I ain't pushing it, not anymore."

With a shrug and a "Hmph, your loss," Uzume drained it all to the last drop.

"Whatever happened to 'slowing down'?" Matsu playfully chided, calmly sipping her second glass.

" _ **Hoc!**_ 'Scuse me!" Uzume coughed the last cloud of liquor from her throat. "What happened is that unlike _some_ people, I can go all night!"

"Oh, really," Kazehana smirked, producing another bottle from seemingly out of nowhere. "Care to put your liquor where your mouth is?"

Uzume slammed a cup down on the picnic cloth. "Bring it, sister."

"Yeah, yeah, just gimme a second." Kazehana popped the cork, put the opening to her lips and took a long, silent swig. The others didn't hear her swallow: she just let it all run right down her throat. And with their Sekirei hearing, they would've _known_ if she were faking it.

After what must've been at least eight seconds of wine-guzzling, Kazehana tipped the bottle back and wiped the drizzling drops from her chin, her companions staring at her with their mouths agape in awe.

"You guys catching bugs or something? None here except us barflies," she giggled, a flush forming on her cheeks. She locked eyes with her uppity junior. "Don't think I'd give you a head start, Uzume-chan."

Uzume swallowed audibly. It was now dawning on her just what kind of monster she'd picked a fight with.

One, two, four, six bottles later (each, that is), the two boozehounds were still neck-and-neck for how utterly smashed they'd become. Matsu and Kagedansu had only accepted shots so they could literally throw them back, over their shoulders, as while Matsu had never _heard_ of Sekirei getting alcohol poisoning, these two seemed in a rush to be the first.

As they were winding down (and running out of rice wine), Kagedansu plucked up the courage to take a third shot. Said courage failed when he sniffed the fresh cup and nearly fell over backwards.

"C' _maaahhn_ ," Uzume pressured him, draping herself across his left arm, snuggling his tricep in between her boobs. "Be a rebluh… Beir-rutabaga… Wur'z yur since'v _venture,_ Kage- _**urrp!**_ –khhun?"

"About three stories down with the rest of me," he replied, putting a palm to his temple.

"Aaaawww, yin-no-ff _fun_."

That out of the way, the Wobbly One resumed her intoxicated dissertation.

"Buhsee, th'thing abowd Chiho," Uzume drawled, "Izzat shi'z lyke a lil sister t'me! I jis wanna hugger 'n' skweezer 'n' rubber 'n' holder 'n'- _**hic!**_ Y'now?"

"Haaa, it's love! Trul love! It must be _love!"_ Kazehana wriggled her body in giddiness. "Righ' Matsu?"

"Yeaaaah, sure," Matsu grumbled, trying to escape Kazehana's crushing hug, as fantastic as the bustier Sekirei's breasts felt against her cheek.

"Hm," was all Kagedansu said, though watching their antics made him crack open a smile.

"I need anuth wun," Uzume said, Kazehana expertly pouring herself another cup and draining it just as quick. Rather, the _last_ cup, as what few splashes of alcohol came out were barely enough to fill it a third of the way.

"Welp, douun the… Gimmya ssec."

Uzume was grasping at empty air around Kagedansu's former cup, probably seeing quadruple given how many times she missed the mark. When she was just about to take the shot, she saw four translucent hands reach down and take the cups away.

"Heyyyeee, thass mine!" Uzume whined.

"I think you've had enough," said Kagedansu's four heads.

"Don' tell me howda live m'life!" Uzume drunkenly drawled.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Kagedansu asked.

"Un whish haaand? I think the middle one has seven?"

"Exactly."

Watching the two of them play keep-away with the cup, Kagedansu managing not to spill a drop, was actually kind of amusing. At least, to Matsu. Kazehana was busy hugging the redhead and sighing "Love" over and over again and you know, maybe staying sober _hadn't_ been the best idea, if Matsu had to put up with _this_. She suddenly felt a lot of sympathy for bunny rabbits.

In reaching for the cup, Uzume fell over, Kagedansu remaining rock-steady. Rather than get back up, she grasped Kagedansu's leg and began climbing him.

"C'mahn, givit baaack!" she slurred, swiping at the cup and prompting Kageansu to hold it higher and higher. Uzume managed to drag herself and her boobs all the way up the larger Sekirei's torso until her chest was against his stomach. The captive cup was just out of reach as the two of them fell over again. Kagedansu was sporting a blush; given how soft Uzume must've felt, even through two layers of clothing, Matsu was surprised the buff Sekirei wasn't trying to undress her.

 _Now there's a thought…_ Matsu thought diabolically, even as Kazehana's embrace threatened to suffocate her.

Right as Uzume was about to have her prize, Kagedansu weaved the cup around her hand and downed the last drink in one go. Uzume pouted and crossed her arms beneath herself, squishing her breasts against him.

"Jerk…" she muttered.

"Sticks and stones, Uzume."

WHUMP!

And thus The Shadow Sekirei reclined and fell once again.

Uzume let out all her alcoholic breath in a frustrated sigh, her face pressed against his chest as she bemoaned this egregious wrong-doing. It was only after her ten-second exhibition that she felt something poking her abdomen, her washed-out mind identifying it as some sort of tusk, or maybe a nightstick. After all, you never knew what someone might keep stashed in their pants, especially when they had so much room in there for junk. Pushing herself to her hands, she looked downward ho to see…

… _What_ is _that?_

She drunkenly flopped down, resting her cheek on top of it as she tried to figure out what it was. It felt like meat, maybe kielbasa or a salami stick, but the smell… It didn't smell like anything _she'd_ ever tried.

"Whaaa…" she sighed, some of the alcohol draining from her brain as she looked up at him. "Why'd you keep this to you-self, Kage-kun? I could go for some of this right about… What is it, anyway?"

At this point, Matsu wasn't sure if Uzume was being dirty or if she was just that oblivious. She sincerely hoped it was the former.

"Kagedannsssu?" the bruenette slurred, gently rapping a knuckle against his forehead. "Hellooo-ooo."

 _Darn it!_ Matsu winced, suddenly free as Kazehana crawled over to inspect.

"I think it's a sausage," she said, lying parallel to Uzume and matching her gaze in aimlessness.

"Reeeeally?"

"I dunno," Kazehana murmured. "How do we tell?"

 _By taking a look!_ And yet, Matsu wouldn't interfere just yet. This was the perfect opportunity to study the effects of intoxication on Sekirei. Because if all it took was a man and a few gallons of sake, The Perverted Sekirei was already forming a plan to get her, Kazehana and Minato in a similar situation.

Kazehana put her hand on top of Uzume's and pushed her head down. "Wha's it smell like?"

"Cloeth, s'- _ke_ , lil' bit of chicken-"

"No I mean the… The _thingie_."

"What thingie?" Uzume asked. Her pupils plunked down, or rather, sideways. "Oh yeah."

 _Come on come on come on come on come on, HURRY UP!_ The redheaded spectator was ready to jump in and shred those black pants with her teeth, it was so _frustrating!_

"I give up," Uzume said, planting her head on Kagedansu's abdomen and looking upside-down as she lifted his waistband. "What's in heeee-"

Her sentence was lost as every odor of sweat, hormones and other chemicals blew out the only opening available, right into Uzume's face. She tipped sideways, falling off of the man and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, her soaked brain trying to process all this new stuff it had just received.

 _YES! THAT A GIRL!_

Matsu's sentiment was echoed somewhere deep in Uzume's mind, the part that was still marinated. Perhaps it was that small part of her, or maybe idle curiosity, but something drove Uzume to slide back up and take another look, clumsily fumbling around with his waistband.

 _It can't be…_ her sober half thought.

 _Aglemahgn'ichoooooh-what?_ came the response.

Matsu's blood was steaming over as she watched Uzume's fingers try to locate the lip of Kagedansu's pants. Even with her well-manicured nails, it was tough.

"Err, here," Kazehana sloughed, managing to dig in her fingers. "Found it."

"Thhhhanks, Kazn-han."

 _Oh man, all the data…_

The two washed-up women dragged Kagedansu's waistband back, and got a good look at him while he flew at half-mast.

 _So the endowment of Sekirei applies to_ both _genders. Rrrgh, I_ really _wish I could've gotten Kagari! Now there's no way to compare!_

Matsu made a note: research Numbers 5, 13 and 107 when she got home. MBI had to have documented _something_.

She was brought out of her reverie, however, when she saw Uzume's face drifting towards a very specific part of Kagedansu.

"Whoa there!" Matsu grabbed the brunette and hauled her back. "Let's not cross _that_ line, okay?"

"Whur's the line?" Uzume looked around, until- "Oh, _thah_ one!"

Her fingers seemed pretty sober, because they had no trouble pinching the zipper on Matsu's track suit and drawing it down. And Matsu wasn't entirely sure if she should stop this. A proud pervert she might be, but no one liked waking up the next morning and listening to what happened while the booze was at the controls.

"Uzume, cut it out!"

"Wha-aaat? Yur th'one who told me to draw'll line!"

"She's got a point," Kazehana conceded.

"Not helping, Kazehana!"

Uzume and Matsu continued to fumble around, Uzume's watery brain trying to figure out what was so important about this line while the drier rest of it kept draining the sake.

"I'm serious!"

"So'm I!"

"Uzume, if you don't stop now- ha- _ha!_ "

Matsu found that Uzume was surprisingly ticklish, the other Sekirei squirming as Matsu's fingers rendered her a wet, writhing noodle.

"Heh- HAHA! Matsu, cut it out!"

Phase 1 was complete. Her counterattack was a success and her opponent was unfocused. Next, Matsu clasped Uzume's hips with her legs and roll her over, pinning the brunette to the floor. She began exploring around Uzume's bust, her fingers still tingling the brunette's nerves.

That's when Matsu felt something heavy lay on top of her, and two bags of fun were smushed against her back.

"Kazehana- HA!" Now the third was joining in, though the only thing she succeeded in doing was making Matsu aware of the position they were in, the location of Uzume beneath her, and how soft Uzume's boobs were pressed against Matsu's own.

It was then that The Perverted Sekirei wrestled command away from The Wisdom Sekirei, readjusting to put Matsu back on course. Her hands went from tickling to touching, which seemed to work just as well for the brunette, who continued to howl with laughter.

Then stroking, tracing the curvature of a bosom that was a perfect match for her own.

Then fondling, getting a feel for how soft and full Uzume's perfectly-developed chest was, squeezing her through her pink star-shirt.

And finally, when she her course was set, Matsu leaned down and planted her mouth on Uzume's neck. By now, Uzume had flopped down, her nerves momentarily spent.

"Ooooh, Matsu…"

The redhead's libido began to recall a fourth member of their party. She glanced over to where he lay, to see-

 _Oh thank god, it's gone down!_

One temptation resolved, two more to go. Except she'd known Kazehana long enough to be aware of the latter's love of fooling around.

"M-Matsu?"

Number 2 lifted her head and looked down to see a different blush on Uzume's face than the one that had appeared before. This one was unsure, much more nervous than the previous red tint.

Matsu grinned. Too little, too late.

"How many fingers _now_?" she asked, giving Uzume another squeeze.

"Matsu, please…" Uzume turned her head aside, unable to keep her eyes open as a tiny moan wriggled free of her lips.

Matsu raised an eyebrow. She slowly lowered her head, her hot breath breaking against Uzume's cheek, before drawing her tongue up behind Uzume's ear.

"I just stopped you from getting _way_ too honest with your boyfriend over there," she murmured, "so we're not moving until I know you're good and sobered up."

"He's, ngh, not my boyfriend," came the reply, despite Matsu's expert groping.

"Really. Sure had _me_ fooled, with how… _close_ you got to him." Matsu squeezed one more time, her well-practiced hands giving juuust the right amount of firmness to their grip. "How many fingers?"

"T…" Uzume swallowed. "Ten."

"Heh heh, _good_ ," Matsu giggled lustily. "Then we can get started."

Her fingers splayed out and grabbed even more of Uzume's husky milk jugs. Keeping one hand hard at work, Matsu sat back on Uzume's pelvis and drew down the zipper that had started it, shaking her own dairy mounds loose and letting her track suit slack along her shoulders.

"Started?! Hold on, I'm not rmph!"

Matsu silenced Uzume's protest by buring the younger Sekirei's mouth in her cleavage, gingerly rubbing her tits against the captive face.

"You don't understand." Matsu buried her nose in Uzume's hair and took a good, long sniff. A satisfying gasp burst from her mouth upon lurching up, the scent of feminine oils strong among Uzume's thick locks. " _Aaaaah_ … I'm stuck at the Inn all the time, with a no-fun landlady ready to throw me out. A chance like this may never come again!"

"Miya really can be harsh, can't she?" came a syrupy voice. Matsu turned her eyes up and saw that Kazehana, in the midst of Matsu's assault, had crawled behind Uzume. She slipped her hands beneath Uzume's shoulders and raised the arm-locked pair, shifting comfortable in behind her bestie before gently prying her head from Matsu's grasp.

Uzume sucked in a long breath before attempting to speak. "M-Matsu… Huah, I- I…"

"You what?" Matsu teased, hand still hard at work on Uzume's tit. With her other hand, she held up three fingers. "How many, Kazehana?"

The Wind Sekirei crossed her arms, squishing her breasts and making them inflate upward; with a mischievous smile, she said, "I'm not drunk, Matsu."

"Again, could've fooled me." Between them, Uzume let slip another sensual groan.

"Come on, Matsu," Kazehana said, leaning down to rest her head on Uzume's shoulder, Number 3 getting to work on Uzume's un-churned right breast. "You know I can never get buzzed off the cheap stuff."

"So pulling down his pants, pushing Uzume's face against him-"

" _What?!_ " Uzume blurted out, causing her tormentors to up the ante, and her voice devolved into a series of whimpers.

"Don't worry, we haven't forgotten you," Kazehana whispered, before turning her gaze back to Matsu. "All part of the plan, hun."

"And you didn't think to stop her?"

Kazehana shrugged. "I wanted to see if you would. I kind of had my doubts about you."

"And you've know me for _how_ long, Kazehana?"

"Long enough to know you'd somehow get us here," said the buxom beauty.

Uzume had flipped a coin in her head. Right now it was spinning sideways on its edge, like a rotor blade.

"Kazehana…" Uzume whispered, her breathless cry for help unspoken. Kazehana's eyes shifted from Uzume, then to Matsu, and then back to her ambuscaded friend.

"Why, Uzume," she playfully teased, "all you had to do was ask."

Kazehana began tenderly kissing her neck, just below her ear along her jawline. Sticking out the tip of her tongue, Kazehana ran it up behind the lobe before her lips nipped at the bottom of the helix.

"Tha-at's-" Uzume was cut off as her whole body shuddered. Matsu and Kazehana working in tandem were unbeatable.

Kazehana mournfully sighed, moving behind Uzume's neck. "Uzume… You carry so much around on your shoulders."

She kissed the younger Sekirei behind the other lobe. "Never letting anyone in…"

Her lips drifted down to place another gentle peck at Uzume's jawline. "Never letting anything out…"

Finally, Three's forehead came up to rest upon Uzume's temple. "So this'll be our little secret," Kazehana whispered, "one we can all share together."

"I…" Uzume's breath caught, despite the fact that Matsu had taken the hint and eased up on her amorous advances. "I don't…"

"What's wrong with a little fun?" Matsu offered, gently massaging Uzume's left breast through her shirt. "We're all friends here."

Uzume struggled a little, and that's when Kazehana stopped, Matsu halting shortly thereafter. They lay there, two Sekirei practically on top of another while a fourth was passed out on the tiles, no one saying anything. Uzume was waging all-out war with herself on what to say next, in this brief moment of reprieve they'd given her. She sensed that this was the tip of the iceberg, the merest fraction of what was to come if she just caved and allowed her two gal-friends to go further.

And a third part, the one that stood separate from the rest, was contemplating Kazehana's words.

Matsu grew impatient at the lack of response and started on Uzume's breasts again, only once her shirt was off and tossed over Kagedansu's face. This was a girls-only invite; no peeking allowed.

"What's it going to be, Uzume?" Matsu said softly. "Getting really mixed signals here."

Uzume's response was more fish-mouthed moaning. Matsu was doing her job too well.

"Try again," Matsu urged.

"Please…" Uzume shuddered and swallowed. "Keep going."

Matsu's grinned widened, another appearing on Kazehana's ruby lips. Matsu's smile turned especially wry as her eyes met Kazehana's.

"Should we?"

"I think we should," agreed the wind-user, failing to notice the twin tears forming under Uzume's closed eyelids.

Matsu passed off Uzume's "treatment" to her teammate as she slid back, her rubber suit squeaking on the tile. As leisurely as possible, and making sure her audience got full view, the Perverted Sekirei slooowly peeled her arms from their sleeves. Matsu gyrated her hips from side to side, her breasts jiggling like gelatin as she tantalizingly revealed more of herself. From where Uzume's head leaned on Kazehana's own mighty melons, her eyes were widening at the sight. Matsu could see Uzume's misery, and silently vowed to end it by dawn's arrival.

The Perverted Sekirei continued her little performance, her track suit sliding further and further down with each jerk of her hips, every bounce of her breasts. The bare flesh of Matsu's now-naked torso shimmered with sweat as she grasped her dual waistbands and slid her sexy-as-hell legs free. Upon stepping out of her suit, and her panties, the only piece of attire that remained were her glasses, which she plucked off and dropped on the heap lying beside her.

Getting on all fours, Matsu drew herself up in front of Uzume and hugged her face to her tits. Surrounding her in softness, and gently stroking her brown hair while at it, this left Kazehana free to disrobe. She was the first to feel the wetness from her friend's eyes, and tilted her head up so she could give Uzume a kiss on her hairline.

Meanwhile, Kazehana wasn't about to put on a show for just one person, unless said person's name began with "M" and ended with "inato". The Wind Sekirei's shoes were off first, followed by her skin-tight purple dress. Matsu hungrily ran her tongue around her lips as Kazehana's bountiful bosom was finally unchained. The Bustiest Sekirei took the opportunity to swing her funbags around a little, exciting her perverted partner as she reveled in how heavy and full they felt. Too often were they restrained by her dress, despite her revealing fashion sense, and with Minato so tuckered out every night there'd been no one to play with them. Well, that was about to change.

Now the only piece of clothing left was Uzume's jeans. After that, nothing would come between them.

The busty brain-type released Uzume and allowed her to fall back into Kazehana's cleavage, the Sekirei's massive mounds contorting around the sides of Uzume's head.

"Have you gotten bigger?" Matsu asked as she undid the button on Uzume's jeans.

"Maybe," Kazehana replied, fondling herself while also rubbing her tit against Uzume's ear, the bristles of chocolate-brown hair tickling her sensitive skin. "With these girls, it's hard to tell."

"It's also not fair," Matsu mockingly sulked, as Uzume's jeans slid from her legs along with her panties. Both single-numbers delighted in how Uzume raised her feet off the ground, without even being asked. All the while, Uzume's eyes remained clenched shut.

And there they were, three nubile women, propping each other up with various levels of desire precipitating from them.

On one hand, Uzume couldn't believe how good her body felt, and they hadn't even started. Kazehana's skin was like the finest velvet against her own, so unbelievably smooth, not a single blemish or imperfection to mar it. Giant, fluffy clouds rounded out Number Three's chest, propping up Uzume's head and neck in a way that no bed ever could compete with.

But on the other hand, those twin tears had yet to dry, and the nausea of her consent continued to eat at her.

Kazehana leaned down and began nibbling on Uzume's ear lobe. Matsu did the same on the opposite side, her nipples rubbing and hardening against her brunette partner's. Uzume haphazardly reached up and touched one of them, running her palm over Matsu's tit. The redhead responded by lowering one hand to the depths below and testing the waters. Uzume was immediately wide-eyed, stiff as a board at her maidenhood being invaded. Matsu relaxed her hand away from Uzume and the younger Sekirei wound down.

"You nervous, Uzume?" Kazehana asked, sampling Uzume's own velvety skin with her cheek, their faces equally flush next to each other.

Uzume's eyes finally opened, and she attempted to swallow the new knot in her neck. It went rolling down her throat, her chest and abdomen lightly heaving at the weight of its passage, and she tearfully whispered…

"Chiho… I'm sorry."

That's when Uzume felt Kazehana's cheek glide back from her own. Four hands, two on her back and two hooked around her sides, gently suspended her in mid-air as Kazehana's sweet body eased away. She was tenderly lowered back, Matsu kissing the underside of her jaw as she leaned herself further into Uzume. When her lover's descent ceased, the Wisdom Sekirei slowly slid down and rested her head on her hands, just above Uzume's flat stomach.

Uzume followed Matsu's gaze, peering up through the wide cleavage above her head into her best friend's eyes, which sparkled back at her like amethyst gemstones.

"Uzume," Kazehana said softly, in a voice that was as warm and comforting as she was, the moonlight casting a soft shadow on her glowing features, "if Chiho means as much to you as Minato does to us…"

Uzume's eyes stared off into space, Matsu resting her head on an elbow, as Kazehana continued.

"Then I can guess how much you hate hurting her." Uzume's would-be lover cupped her cheek. "But you're not."

Once more, four soft palms took the teary-eyed Sekirei into their embrace, easing her to the ground as Kazehana drew back. When the Veil Sekirei was fully prone, she saw the top of Kazehana's head, her hair still tied by her ribbon, lower itself and touch their foreheads to one another.

"We're our own person, Uzume, and our Ashikabi know we deserve to find happiness on our own terms; _with_ them…"

Kazehana broke contact so she could gently kiss Uzume on the forehead.

"… and without them."

At this final gesture, Uzume's eyes sliding shut as she felt all of the love that Kazehana gave freely now flowing into her, she recalled Chiho's words, that day she'd begun to grapple with herself.

 _No one can have just one person in their life_.

Chiho spent all day every day in a hospital, alone except for the doctors and Uzume's visits. Uzume was the only person she ever saw, yet she still managed to remain chipper and smiling whenever her big sister Sekirei came by. Yet she had the nerve to lecture Uzume, who was surrounded by friends all the time, about needing to be more sociable?

Sekirei had a special bond with their Ashikabi, one that let them sense each other's thoughts and feelings. Only now, on the cusp of infidelity, did Uzume realize what Chiho had seen. Uzume was surrounded by friends, yes, but no one she could truly confide in. No one she could share her secrets with. No one to talk to about what was _truly_ on her mind.

No one to be intimate with.

No one to relieve her burdens.

Chiho had sensed that Uzume, bright, cheerful, always-there-for-a-good-time Uzume, was lonely.

Uzume's face began to contort. Then she started trembling. Then the gates in her eyes finally opened and water spilled over the cills that were her eyelids.

"I'm such an idiot," she sobbed.

"Thaaat's it..." Kazehana whispered, slowly caressing Uzume's tricep, over and over again. "Just let it out."

For the first time in a while, as she vacated her position between Uzume's leg to spread herself over the other Sekirei, Matsu spoke up.

"See?" murmured the brain-type. Lying on top of Uzume, she gingerly kissed her jawline and caught one of her tears with soft lips. "Was that so bad?"

Their bodies were near-identical in shape and proportions, with Uzume's bosom being only slightly larger, contrasted to Matsu's somewhat curvier thighs and buttocks. As such, the amount of contact they had was maximum, and Matsu felt every goosebump that her next words provoked.

"So let's celebrate."

A cursory glance at Kazehana showed that yes, they were still on the same page, and the subject of their affection was lying still, the only exception being the slow flexing and curling of her toes.

Matsu was the first to rise, pressing her breasts against her partner's plush body and dragging them down her left side, from her chest past her pelvis to all the way down her thigh. Meanwhile, Kazehana sat back on her heels and untied her hair ribbon, swishing her raven locks around until they were good and loose. She then started her own descent down Uzume's body, kissing her way from Uzume's clavicle to her cleavage and finally her waist.

As The Wind Sekirei neared her destination, The Wisdom Sekirei pushed her nose into Uzume's leg and ran it up the inside, the fragrance getting stronger and stronger as she continued to sample it. The two were almost there now, just a little bit further-

"No! Wait!" Uzume's hands jumped to shield her fidelity as her legs jumped to begin a half-hearted escape attempt.

The two halted immediately. "You all right?" Kazehana asked.

"I just… Gimme a minute…"

Matsu's intended subject lay with her head staring up and away from Kazehana's crotch, breathing rapidly, trying to get a grip on her gut-wrenching nervousness. When she remained silent, unmoving save for her breasts, which rolled up and down her chest with every nerve-wracked inhalation, Kazehana gently blew on Uzume's precious maidenhood. This provoked a small twitch from her hips, but no protest. Kazehana did it again, this time receiving a small hum from Uzume and a new droplet of desire appeared. Seeing it, Kazehana laid a hand over Uzume's tender area and began moving it up and down, coating her fingers with strong secretions.

And while Kazehana stroked Uzume into tranquility, Matsu massaged Uzume's thighs, kneading the tightened muscles beneath, seeking out more pressure points with her fingers. One by one she prodded each of them, unlocking the invisible chains that had seized her partner, and Uzume's legs slowly slid back to the floor.

"Better?" asked Matsu, still hard at work.

"Yeah… I-" Uzume swallowed. "I think I'm ready."

"You're sure this time?" her even-bustier companion asked.

The fearful Sekirei nodded. "Definitely."

Kazehana moved her hand out of the way and slowly began lowering her head towards the floodgates. Matsu did the same, running her hands up Uzume's silken legs and parting the way with her thumbs.

A shockwave shot up Uzume's body as her two lovers gave her a lick, and soon they were hard at work cleansing her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

… All of which Minaka took note of via his spy satellite. It seems the little birds were daring to cross a line that he'd never considered while developing them on that island all those years ago. As usual, his discoveries continued to surprise him.

He was tempted, oh so tempted, to order Karasuba to go down there and slaughter Number 2. A fitting end for her: dying in the midst of the perverted activities which she'd been so open about. However, Minaka had his own fun in store, from Stage 3 and beyond, and conceded to let Number 2 have hers; she'd be punished in good time.

After all, termination was just another part of the game. What Two had coming? Not so much.

Minaka grinned, once again admiring his own genius. Cold meals were always his favorites.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once again, Uzume had become completely speech-impaired, the only thing escaping from her mouth moans and gasps.

Kazehana's second guess was that since this was Uzume's first time, she was still reeling from the ride. Neither one particularly bothered her.

Uzume had her arms wrapped around Kazehana's pelvis, squeezing her tight while her lower half twitched and writhed from Kazehana and Matsu's attentions. Her heated breaths were intangibly stimulating Kazehana's switch; her nipples, pushed against Kazehana's stomach where Uzume clung to her, were getting Kazehana hot and bothered, despite the wind-user's unspoken promise to devote her attentions solely to Uzume.

Matsu, meanwhile, was slowly getting herself worked up. It hadn't really suited her, this "holding back" stuff, and while she'd silently conceded to leave some of her more extreme experiments for another time, it was high time to turn up the heat.

Matsu replaced her mouth with her twin fingers, wiggling them at a rapid speed like she was tapping keys on a piano. As far as Uzume's melted mind was concerned, Matsu was hitting _all_ the right notes.

"You like?" Matsu grinned. Uzume let out a long groan, broken up by a series of staccato mini-gasps. "Works for me."

After drilling for oil, Matsu's lips took back their position at Uzume's base to give her a long, wet, suctioned kiss. Uzume's hips thrust out, her cries skyrocketed in pitch and volume, so Kazehana cocked her head and did the same up top.

"You guys! That's! AUGH!"

The muscles about Uzume's loins constricted and released everything straight into Matsu's waiting mouth. The pungent smell made the redhead blush, whipping her already stirred-up desires into a frenzy. Matsu couldn't take it anymore. She opened her mouth and nibbled at Uzume's exquisite flesh, her teeth scraping at the doors of her lover and collecting more of her nectar.

Uzume screamed and her hips bucked once again, straight at Kazehana's face. The well-rounded gal was so surprised that she forgot to kiss them goodbye before they flopped back down. That was her mistake, though she couldn't help but feel they'd gone a little faster than Uzume had wanted them to. She eyed Matsu once more but Uzume's kitten-like mewls were making it pretty clear how she felt, earning The Perverted Sekirei a victorious "See? Told you so" look towards her partner.

On that note, Kazehana retreated from down below, replacing her lips with her middle finger to join Matsu's. The raven-haired goddess peered back and lowered her own flower garden closer to Uzume's sunny face.

" _You_ try it now," she smiled.

Matsu smirked at her prone lover, Uzume looking back through the gap between massive mammaries and a sleek stomach. "Trust me, she tastes great."

Uzume had to unlock the muscles in her neck, but she got her head up and flicked her tongue, sampling Kazehana's homemade delicacy.

"Mmmm, that's the spot," the woman hummed, her finger picking up speed. "Do it more."

Uzume was happy to oblige. She did her best to mimick the tongue-play that she'd felt on _her_ end, remembering each place that made her see stars. Kazehana's breaths got faster and heavier while Matsu did her best to one-up Uzume with a performance of her own. But it was no use; Kazehana was enjoying it so much that she sat back on her heels and smothered Uzume's face, rolling her hips and adding to the waves that rocked her boat.

"Ngh! Yeah!" Kazehana was starting to sound feverish, grabbing hold of Uzume's breasts and massaging her chest. "I'm almost there!"

"Someone's a fast learner, I see," Matsu remark.

"I'll say. MMMH!" Kazehana squealed in delight while roughly squeezing Uzume, a slurry of slurping sounds announcing Three's climax. Kazehana let out a contented sigh, then a small yelp as Uzume started right back up again.

"Alright, then," Matsu said, climbing to her feet. "Here's Lesson #2."

The red-haired Sekirei scooped up Uzume's fluffy-soft behind and braced it against her inner thigh, slinging her leg over. A little bend in her knee saw the two of them connect, and Matsu began taking Uzume for a ride.

"Matsu, that feels great!" Uzume shouted. "Oooo, keep going!" The brain-type had her partner's leg by the calf and engulfed Uzume's shin in her cleavage.

"It's an equal effort," Matsu grunted, a small amount of glimmering condensation running down Uzume's torso. "Give back and we'll _both_ feel great."

"Yes-ma'am!" Uzume's enthusiasm was infectious. With her ankle locked in place Uzume began pivoting her hips in-time with Matsu, still suckling on Kazehana. They'd become far more sensitive to the touch now that they were properly lubricated, and the oil that mixed between the three only served to make the experience even _more_ sensual. Matsu gave a little jolt and her knees pinched Uzume's torso, further adding to the cascade.

Uzume felt her next climax come, before which she split her legs in an attempt to stretch herself out. Droplets showered Kazehana's face as she leaned in to catch the delectable discharge in her mouth. The Wind Sekirei licked her lips as Uzume sent Matsu tumbling to the ground with an ankle-tap to the back of the knee, the redhead's legs still trembling.

Kazehana was also toppled off of Uzume's face, groaning in disappointment as she had yet to reach her next peak. Uzume was in full-on locomotive mode, rolling to her knees and ran a hand down the inside of Kazehana's ivory limb, levering open her groin. Feeling out the padding, and swirling a finger about Kazehana, she topped her off.

"OOH!" Kazehana pulled Uzume further in, some of it falling on her hair.

Matsu reached under Uzume but the brunette had other ideas, pulling her hips away and seating herself against Kazehana accordingly.

"You and me, Number Three. This is gonna rock."

It began as a light brush, then a rub, and finally a furious grind, each stage drawing louder cries from Number 3. She bolted up, Uzume going for her neck as she went for Uzume's shoulder, clamping down with her mouth and feeling their teats slide all over each other.

Matsu was still trying to figure out how she'd factor into this newest position before Kazehana, in a surprising amount of clarity given the haze in her eyes, patted the ground next to her with her free hand, still jerking and thrusting her hips against her chocolate-haired partner's.

The Perverted Sekirei sat down and was immediately yanked towards the event horizon of writhing flesh, the hands that pulled her jumping up her body each time until she was upside-down against Uzume. Uzume parted with Kazehana and bear-hugged the lubricious and lubricated Number 2 to herself; right away she got to work with her mouth. Matsu's ass-cheek was up against Uzume's bare breast, being prodded and poked by Uzume's nipple; her other boob was still battling Kazehana's for dominance, and despite her impressive size Kazehana found herself on the decisive defensive. Completing the triad was Kazehana's other cushion playing buffer to the rest of Matsu's behind. With so much skin rubbing together, they were drowning in pleasure, Kazehana's mouth hanging open and her tongue lolled out the corner like a hungry bird wanting to feed.

Suddenly, Uzume stopped. "Hey, Matsu."

The redhead whinnied in displeasure and Kazehana had nearly passed-out sitting up, her teats squished against their equally curvaceous rivals and threatening to overrun them with their mountainous mass.

Uzume gave a triumphant grin. " _You're_ delicious, too."

Then her feast resume _even harder_ while Matsu's nails clawed at Uzume's thigh. The younger Sekirei's body bucked, causing Matsu's and Kazehana's to do the same. Matsu's back began arching as she neared closer and closer to euphoria, her tits flopping down into her face. She pushed herself further on to Uzume's tongue, one hand bracing the bridge while the other directed her nipple into her own maw, sucking hard.

But the one final nudge came when Uzume's right hand scaled up (or down) Matsu's body and slinked like a serpent around her inner thigh, weaving around its owner's motor of a tongue and probing a whole _new_ spot.

And then, so did Matsu.

"Oh God, oh, OH!"

"UNGH, UZUME!"

"Ah YEAH, _HAAAA-_!"

Matsu's explosive reflex sent her off the floor and up until she was sitting upright on Uzume's shoulders, squeezing Uzume's head between her thighs, still gushing. Ambrosia splattering around where she and Kazehana lay locked, Number 3's eyes rolled back as she screamed her lungs out. Uzume grabbed Matsu's ass and opened her mouth equally wide to engulf every inch of the wellspring of lust, tipping herself back and pouring more of its waters into her mouth. She held Matsu up on her shoulders as long as she could, gulping it all down before crashing back and continuing to drink.

When the quaking of their bodies finally ceased, Uzume released her puckered mouth with a pop and stared up at Matsu's loins. Matsu was on her hands and knees; Uzume had sucked her almost dry, the brunette licking her lips for the glistening substance that coated her. Kazehana mirrored her, the raven-haired woman's limbs sprawled out on the floor and completely blown away by how intense their big finish had been.

Matsu tipped over and lay on her side, glistening with sweat from head to toe, her breasts pushing between her arms with every wheeze. Uzume sat up and leaned on one arm.

"So…" she panted, "how was _that?_ "

"That," Matsu repeated, reaching over to stick her finger in the liquid sugar, "was fantastic." To verify, she stuck said finger in her mouth. Yup, still tasty.

Matsu turned her head and smiled at the previously unsure Sekirei.

"And to think you almost said no," the red-faced redhead grinned.

"Hey, I already said I was an idiot." She and Matsu both shared a laugh, and Uzume was re-drawn to the unmoved form of Kagedansu. She kind of felt bad for him, getting left out like that. Then again, none of this would've happened if he'd just given her the damn _drink!_

So, wait, that left Uzume unsure as whether to be angry or gracious. Maybe both? Yeah, she could work with both.

" _You_ ," she said, poking Kagedansu's unshifted form, "are an idiot, too."

The dense muscle in the male Sekirei's arm clenched at her touch. Uzume frowned, reached over and quickly snatched her shirt away off of his face. The Shadow Sekirei didn't even flinch.

"Hmph. And a spoilsport," Uzume joked, tossing her shirt away.

"I don't know," Matsu said suggestively. "The night's still young."

Uzume looked at Matsu, then back at Kagedansu.

"We-ell..."

She hopped over and looked at his upside-down face, her heavy breasts jiggling below her chest. She squinted, trying to find _some_ sign, _**any**_ sign that he was faking. But, no, that no-tolerance thing had him out like a dead lightbulb. So Uzume allowed herself just a little treat, flopping down on his face and smothering it in her cleavage. She hooked her hands under his head and pulled him deeper in, rubbing her tits all around his face. When she'd finally pushed herself to the outer limits of her self-control, she violently pulled herself up, put his head back to the floor, then kissed him on his cheekbone as hard as Kazehana and Matsu had kissed her.

"Get ready, Kagedansu," Uzume cooed, tracing his jaw with her finger, "because after I tell Chiho about us…

She placed her mouth next to his ear, and whispered, "You're all mine."

She gave him another wet one under his jaw, then spun away. Any longer and she might've done something _very_ questionable to him.

Kazehana hadn't gotten up, still sprawled on the floor with her gelatinous mounds flumped to either side of her chest. The Wind Sekirei said nothing, gently stroking herself and continuing her medley of soft mewls.

"You alright over there, Kazehana?" Matsu asked.

Kazehana's mouth opened a little and a throaty purr echoed out. Her half-open eyes continued to stare at the night sky.

"Wow," Matsu said, eyes gaping.

"Woah, did we _break_ her?" Uzume asked.

"Maybe. I haven't seen her like this since..." She smiled sheepishly. "Well, actually, since the last time we did this."

"So... She's done then?"

"No," Matsu said, amazed at how much Kazehana was still secreting, "she wants _more_."

Uzume grinned. "And you don't?"

"Don't you put words in my mouth," Matsu grinned back.

"Oh?" Uzume raised an eyebrow, her legs already starting to rub together. "So what _should_ I put in your mouth?"

"Crawl on over here," Matsu said, demonstrating as she drew herself alongside Kazehana's sexiful form, "and I'll show you."

The belles proceeded to take as much of Kazehana's soft mounds with their lips as they possibly could, Kazehana reaching around to smother them with her mucilaginous melons. Soon, the greenhouse was filled with screams, moans, and the pungent odor of pillow-play as the coupling Sekirei began all over again, unaware that a certain sinister someone was watching them.

His yellow eyes narrowed from where he lay. This was not the turnout that he'd hoped for. But, he supposed he could work with it, hopefully find some way to twist this to his objective. After all, he was nothing if not… _imaginative._


	48. Here We Are, Born to Be Kings

**Chapter 48: Here We Are, Born to be Kings**

"Remind me why I'm not carrying Two's head to him again," Karasuba called, dabbing her sword with a cotton swab while she sat on the couch, imagining what could be so important to draw the little filcher out of her hole.

"Minaka says they're 'punishing themselves'," Natsuo replied. "Apparently, whatever Two and Three are doing, it'll leave them in rough shape tomorrow morning, and knowing the Ashikabi of the North, he wouldn't put the child in danger if he could help it. So, that leaves Nine, Six, and-"

"Musubi." Karasuba's eyes had widened a little bit, as she admired their piercing leer in the reflection on her sword. "So how does he plan on getting back what she stole?"

"Someone's working on it, though he laughed when I asked who and said, 'You'd never believe it'."

The Black Sekirei's eyes narrowed at this. Then her suspicious jealousy gave way to reality. Someone who could get past Miya that wasn't her or Yume? She huffed a breathy laugh. Even on her best day, the two of them still would only be able to _match_ Miya; No. 1 still eclipsed them in raw power, so much that she didn't need ability, yet had plenty of _that_ , too. Minaka's delivery boy would bite the dust soon enough, then it would be _her_ turn.

Now that her blade was sufficiently oiled, she slid the nodachi into its sheathe and arced off the couch. "In any case, bed time."

"Good night, Karasuba."

The Black Sekirei leveled a look at him as she passed through the door to her room, feeling the familiar emptiness that enabled him to wing her. "See you in the morning, Natsuo."

With that, it was lights out, Karasuba having gained an ounce of respect for her… "employer", as it were. Once more, she had to wonder who this mysterious "someone" was who was more capable than she. She decided that once she'd killed Yume, this mysterious so-and-so was next.

That is, if they somehow survived Miya. She hoped they did. It would make murdering them that much more exciting.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minaka, meanwhile, was looking over the manila files on his desk, giddy and giggling. Tomorrow the first match would commence, and it would be the grandest opening of all time, sung throughout the ages along with the rest of the legend that would be The Sekirei Plan! Six players, each of them formidable Ashikabi in their own right, clashing and fighting over the mere _chance_ to go for the Prize! Even with the lights off save a single desk-lamp, Minaka lit the room with his excitement.

However… Something just wouldn't leave him alone.

As he lay down to sleep in his bed, a proposition he'd received earlier that week continued debating with him, talking him into allowing a small change to the roster. Key assurances had been made and despite his best efforts to argue, the propositioneer had spun a very solid case for himself. Aside from a minor hiccup in said promises (which, as the man had put it, were necessary), Minaka really couldn't see a reason to not believe him. Besides which, Minaka still had the Disicipline Squad if he tried to double-cross.

So when he awoke the next morning, The Gamemaster had gone from tentative contemplation to serious consideration. Perhaps a seventh player _might_ be allowed…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakizaki was woken up not by his alarm but by the chirping of his cell phone. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and reaching to the side for his glasses, he put them on…

Wait, these were Kochou's glasses. No wonder his vision was so skewed.

After correcting his mistake, Kakizaki reached to the side table and flipped open his phone.

"Hello?" He was too sleepy to check who it was.

" _Kakizaki. I trust you had a good night's sleep?_ "

The Ashikabi looked over to where his Sekirei lay beside him, her lower half under the covers but still as naked as he was.

"Indeed, sir. What's the trouble?"

" _No trouble. I'm simply calling to let you know that you won't be required to come in today._ "

"Would it be rude of me to ask why, sir?"

Beside him, Kochou moaned, stretched, and opened her eyes, sleepily smiling and sparkling with joy.

" _I have it on good authority that Minaka's shut down the MBI satellites for the day."_

"Do you thinks he suspects us?"

"If he does, he shows no sign," murmured Kochou, gripping Kakizaki about the shoulders and dragging her naked breasts up along his back. Her plump mounds caressing his back was enough to reawaken him fully.

" _I can't be certain. Regardless, I've already called in a replacement to take my office calls. Enjoy your day off_."

"I will, sir," he said, a little less professionally than he would've liked. The dial tone sounded in his ear and tossed the phone aside.

He grabbed Kochou by the wrists and whirled around to pin her to the bed, her legs already spread and waiting for him.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, you know," Kakizaki said, sounding completely serious. But Kochou knew her Ashikabi better than that.

"I'm not so sleepy that my hearing's impaired," she replied, equally serious.

"Hmmm…" He released one of her wrists and began fondling her, feeling how hard her nipple had become in comparison to her soft breast. "You say that, yet you feel fully awake."

"That's because…" She let out a contented sigh and sank further into the bed. "So bold," she breathed, her round, alabaster chest rising further at his touch. "I love it."

Kakizaki came down and kissed her, her indigo wings spreading along the mattress. Groaning in delight she wrapped herself around him, limbs and all. Soon the bedroom was filled with more pillow-sounds as the two of them resumed their lovemaking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Kazehana, Matsu and Uzume all lay in a sweaty, smelly pile, their limbs still entwined with one another-

In the darkness of Matsu's secret room at the Inn.

The brain-type was the first to come around, her namesake throbbing inside her beautiful cranium. But there was also a warm, far more pleasant ache pulsating down under. She put one hand to her eye and let out a low whine. Then her other hand went down between her legs, reasoning that the best way to cure her hangover was to flush it out.

Shortly thereafter, Matsu had covered her legs in more than just sweat. Opening her eyes and giving a satisfied sigh, it was then that she saw the note tacked to the wall, written in kanji. She glanced around and found her glasses (also that their clothes had been delivered back with them), and pulled it off the wall.

 _Gone back to my place. I oughta charge you for the lift; you guys are_ _ **heavy**_ _. Also, that weird smell stuck to my clothes and I was feeling very left out for some reason._

Well, _she_ tried to bring him in on the fun, but Uzume had to go and spoil it. Then again, Uzume had been the one dominating their play, so Matsu really couldn't complain. She still didn't know how their bodies could hold so much wine, both from the bottles and from themselves.

But on the other side, she noticed as she flipped it down on her desk, there was another inscription, this one in English. Cursive font, no less.

 _Had I been the Discipline Squad, at least one of you would be dead. I believe you know who would be first. Keep your wits about you, O Perverted One, for they may very well save your life. Though knowing you, not likely._

Below that:

 _By the by, you have a_ _ **lovely**_ _figure. I can see why Sahashi-san covets you so._

Matsu thought she was going to be sick as invisible spiders scurried all over her. It wasn't just the overwhelming sense of dread, nor because he'd laid hands on her naked body, but because Hametsu had known about her secret room whereas Kagedansu and Izanagi had not. Already he'd begun to encroach, invading their home in real life just like he'd done in Kusano's dreams, and invading one of their thoughts to learn Matsu's secret room. She had to wonder what else he'd found; more disconcerting was that unlike with Kagedansu, his powers of mind-spearing hadn't pained or even awoken her.

Perking up in alarm, she leapt to her feet and felt around the upper portions of the wall. If he was here, and he'd probed their thoughts, and found out about it-

"Oh," Matsu said, feeling the familiar crystalline shape, still hidden in its secret compartment in the wall, even the dust undisturbed.

So, getting back on track, not only had he found her secret room, but before that, he'd even known about their little get-together. No one outside of their group had known about it, lest Minaka call the city's Ashikabi and turn a last hurrah into another gladiator match.

Kagedansu hadn't reported any further contact with Hametsu, either. So how in the world had he-

Wait a second! All he'd have to do is wait outside the inn, follow them to the greenhouse and back, then hope they'd start jumping to conclusions.

She began sifting through the various footage that MBI's satellite had picked up last night, searching for herself… There! On the street. Now she just had to play through it and see if anyone shady came up.

Ten minutes later, despite it being a 20-second trip from the Inn to the greenhouse, there was nothing. No one had followed them on the street, no one had loitered around the Inn. To add to her frustration, at one point in the night, Minaka had shut down the spy satellites. When she tried to access them, she was greeted by the image of the Director's face.

"Ah ah ah! We can't have you interfering with the match, now can we? The two of you will just have to be good little birds and sit quietly for the time being. If, however, _you_ are chosen for the match, Number Two, rest assured I'll provide you with the appropriate access codes. Let it never be said that I don't share my toys!"

Then with a mad guffaw, Minaka Hiroto's message ended. Matsu ignored it. After finding out that the actual satellite server had been disconnected from MBI entirely, she gave up and went back to Hametsu.

 _Okay, so there doesn't seem to be a feasible limit to where Hametsu can phase himself_ , she thought. _If his only restriction is dark places, then he could've followed us through adjacent buildings. Second question: how dark does it need to be?_

Maybe some night lights would help. Or maybe they wouldn't, but it was worth a shot.

Deciding to catalog as much as she could, Matsu, still naked, placed the note under a scanner and scanned both sides of it. Some more of her keyboard magic revealed all the dust, blemishes, and specs that had collected throughout the morn.

More importantly, it revealed fingerprints.

But all the fingerprints she found were Kagedansu's, from where he'd picked up the scrap and tacked it to the wall. No additional fingerprints, though her eyes found small scratches on the wall from where a pencil had pushed against paper.

And even after compulsively checking each and every pencil she owned, once more the only fingerprints around belonged to the Shadow Sekirei.

She thought about installing security cameras around the Inn, to watch the hallways as well as the bath. No, that wouldn't fly. First there was Miya, and Matsu knew herself too well to claim she wouldn't peep on Minato. Second, Hametsu was probably smart enough to spot and avoid them, possibly destroy them if it came around to it, as his identity seemed to be something he fervorously safeguarded. Verifying this was the fact that a check of her outside footage showed that-

Huh. That's weird.

While her already-installed cameras showed nothing, her outside radar, which she'd used to pick up Izanagi and Kagedansu the morning after Hametsu's arrival, had recorded an unknown shape carrying three others. It had made its way inside through a top-floor window, quiet enough to not wake anyone, not even Miya.

Then again, Miya slept on the ground floor at the other end of the inn, so there's that.

But that just raised more questions. Had Hametsu brought them home? If that wasn't the case, how'd Kagedansu avoided her cameras? Hametsu's intrusion and the added post on the note was easy to explain: probably to spook her, let her know that Hametsu knew where she was and that she couldn't do anything about it.

Loathe as she was to admit it, his ploy had worked.

And right as she realized how Kagedansu must've left the note originally, she recovered the thumb tack and scanned it, too. Skin oil present, but no print; Hametsu had probably pinched it between his knuckles. It also explained how he tacked the paper to the wall without leaving prints. Seriously, what was the deal with him? It's not like he'd exist in public records.

Or would... No, no, Kagedansu wouldn't lie; those wounds on his body had _definitely_ been real. So, add that one to the pile.

Sighing in relief and exhaustion, she pushed her keyboard back in with her knee, sat down, and flopped back, landing on Kazehana's stomach next to her soft, squishy cushions.

And judging by the circumference around the base, plus Matsu's seasoned breast-feeling hands, she could confirm that yes, Kazehana _had_ gotten bigger.

And softer.

"Ku ku ku, wakey-wakey, Kazehana," she cajoled, grabbing and drumming her fingers all over the bustier Sekirei's breasts. The slumbering dove shifted a little and placed her hands atop Matsu's own, pressing them harder to herself.

"Mmmm… Like that, Minato…" she mewled, still asleep.

"Ugh, my head... Hey Matsu, did you bring any-" The third and final member of the trio ceased her hung-over groaning as realized where she was.

"What the crap? How'd we get back?"

"Kagedansu brought us here, Hametsu might have carried us in," Matsu said, then shrugged. "Well, at least _one_ of them brought our clothes back."

She said that, even though she was still naked playing with her teammate's dress-cushions.

"Minato… Harder…"

Uzume's eyes widened at Kazehana's lustful stupor. _Seriously? After all we did she_ _ **still**_ _wants to keep going?_

That's when the sliding door whooshed open and an upset rug-beater came crashing down on Matsu's head.

"My my, you three are looking _very_ improper right now," said the masked demon, the rug-beater slapping into her free hand as she contemplated who to punish next. "And would you care to explain why you were fondling Kazehana, Matsu?"

"Just, erm…" The Wisdom Sekirei sighed. "I got nothing."

Miya smiled. "Well, at the very least you were honest."

 _WHACK! WHACK!_

"Ow! What did _I_ do?" Uzume whined.

"Public nudity is forbidden at Izumo Inn. You should know this, Uzume."

"What, I can't be naked in my own room?" Matsu objected.

Miya's sweetly menacing glare met her head-on. "That is allowed, Matsu, but not in the presence of company."

Matsu swallowed. "W-whatever you say, Miya."

"Haaaa…" Kazehana sighed as she sat up, stretching her arms and thrusting out her freshly-tenderized bosom. "What a night. We should do that again some time."

 _WHACK!_

Kazehana rubbed the swelling lump on her cranium. "Well, good morning to you, too, Miya."

She began looking around, not even questioning how she got back to the Inn.

"Now, where's my husband, and my dress? In that order."

"Minato," Miya said, resting the rug-beater on her shoulder, "has already left for the First Match. He tried to wake you but you two wouldn't budge."

" _He left already?!_ " the single-numbers cried simultaneously.

"That is what I said, yes," the Landlady answered. "There's nothing we can do now but wait for everyone's return."

She turned away and began heading back downstairs.

"And since you'll be free, I have some chores for you both."

"Actually, Miya," Uzume said, closing her now-located cellphone and placing it in her now-located pants, "I have work to do."

Miya gave a quick nod. "Very well. I won't keep you, Uzume. Just be careful; the First Match might be going, but there are still other Ashikabi out there."

Uzume nodded. "I will."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **To all recipients: congratulations a re in order!**

Seo knew that part had been a lie, at least in regards to himself. He was looking around at the concrete pillars and rusted metal of the pylons while Hibiki and Hikari did the same. They couldn't spot anyone else, so hopefully the others weren't lying in wait. Too bad this place wasn't still running; the Twins could've used this station's power lines to charge their attacks.

Seo had to wonder if Minaka was subtly getting back at him. Wouldn't be the first time, since Minaka had put him here with five other Ashikabis, all of their Sekirei outnumbering the Twins.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **You've managed to wing multiple Sekirei, placing you among a very select few. Well done indeed!**

And it had helped Mikogami to be far more… _proactive_ than most Ashikabi. Sure, most had gotten away and winged themselves on someone else, but not all of them.

Ironically, every Sekirei that had been abducted on his orders had ended up reacting to him anyway. Call it "fate", he called it good luck that none of the girls brought to him held a grudge over being kidnapped.

Well, there was Yomi, but he straightened things out with her once he found her weakness. Said weakness had been himself, his hands, and pretty much any spot on her body. She was such a pervert…

And now she was gone forever, the first true loss he'd ever suffered during this whole plan.

Looking over at Taki, Sekirei No. 65, Mikogami had a few nagging doubts about bringing her on this endeavor. Her pretty white dress was swaying gently in the wind along with her long, silvery hair, and while he was at it he stole a peek at her exposed cleavage, her outfit almost engineered to part her boobs down the middle. She caught him looking at her and smiled, putting a hand to her lips and giggling.

Even though Taki wasn't a fighter, provided she could keep her head down, she'd probably be the most valuable member of the team. That Jinki was as good as his.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **As such, I, Minaka Hiroto of MBI, cordially invite you to the First Match of Stage Three, the location of which I've provided in the attached map.**

Higa had sent it along to his computer people and had them check historical records, architecture, old blueprints, anything they could dig up on the site. They'd given him the layout in a small printed-out map which he now carried in his coat pocket, refusing to rely on phone signals or other electronic equipment lest the Ashikabi of the North have his Sekirei steal it.

It was an old industrial site, a combination concrete plant, lime quarry, office building, and neighboring electrical substation, which had shut down when MBI had driven all of the surrounding businesses into bankruptcy. No need to supply power to empty buildings. There was even a freeway overpass that no one used anymore because no one had a reason to come to this part of town. As such, MBI had no trouble arranging for it to be separated from the rest of the highway system and left up to be used in the First Match.

Higa had to wonder how Minaka had managed to root out all the homeless that inevitably started living here once the civilized people left. Had they even bothered? It really wasn't his concern, unless one of them found the Jinki.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **I believe I've already explained the general rules of Stage Three. And if you'll note who will be on hand for this one, I hope you'll dismiss any thoughts of breaking my rules. But for this match, you will be allowed no more than three Sekirei, and the match will end five minutes after the second Jinki is located.**

Well, if there was one thing Sanada's lovelies were good at, it was playing games. And now was time for a round of hardcore capture-the-flag.

"You girls ready?" he asked, resetting his jacket so it stopped slouching down his neck.

"I am!" Kujika beamed, pumping her fist into the air.

…..

"Kuzuri? Shijime? Where are you?" the tanned blonde called, looking around.

"Did they run off already?" Sanada asked. He sighed and chuckled, despite his fear for their safety. "Don't know what we were expecting."

"I'll find them!"

"Hold it," the man said, grabbing his Sekirei by her black bikini top. "We'll find 'em together, alright?"

"Alright!" Kujika cheered again. "And then we'll get that Jinki!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Search relentlessly or eliminate competition, the choice is yours.**

Natsuo had a feeling that given how Benitsubasa and Haihane were, they'd probably go with the latter choice. The Blue Sekirei was rubbing her bandaging with her palm for fear of cutting herself.

And, of course, Karasuba was elsewhere, waiting for Musubi to find her or the first Jinki to be located. Natsuo knew better than to think she was in any danger.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **A little hint: you'll find me in one of these buildings, the same one which houses a Jinki. Good luck, and I'll see you before the day is out!**

Minato thought over this last part thoroughly. Minaka was trying to bait them into coming to one spot, where they'd all fight for his amusement. Now, if he could just figure out _which_ of the dozen buildings the man was hiding in, they'd probably have a better time.

"Come on, Minato, what's the plan?" Musubi asked impatiently.

"Plan, plan… Right," said Minato, closing his cell phone. "Let's stick to finding the Jinki. Tsukiumi, Homura, you'll be with me. We'll comb the buildings starting with the substation."

"That's literally the last place Minaka would hide anything," Homura remarked, tugging on his black mask. "I doubt the Jinki's there."

"Which is what Minaka might be thinking: hide it out in the open where no one would think to look."

"I concur; that is the first place we shall go," Tsukiumi said. "Twould serve us better to engage out in the open, where our foes cannot hide."

"What about me, Minato?" Musubi asked.

Minato turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I need you to go through the concrete plant and look for the Jinki there. If the machinery's still in there, that's a lot of places to hide something so small."

"Minato, I trust thy judgement and state of mind," Tsukiumi interceded, "but is it truly wise to send Musubi out by herself when thou hast two Single Numbers by thy side?"

Minato turned towards his blonde Sekirei. "You two are stronger, yeah. So if we run into all three of another team, you two will have the best chance of fighting them off. Meanwhile, Musubi will be free to search for a Jinki while everyone's distracted."

"I don't like being bait, Minato," Homura angrily muttered, a trail of smoke rising from his folded arms.

"And I don't like this either, but it's the best I can come up with. If we split up we're vulnerable, if we stick together we'll never find anything."

"Speak for thyself, Homura," Tsukiumi said, fiercely clenching her fist. "I, for one, am heartened by my husband's faith in mine abilities."

"Glad to hear it, Tsukiumi," said Minato. This earned him a smile from his self-proclaimed wife and her brunette companion.

"Let's just get on with it," Homura grumbled, striding off into the site as the MBI chopper overhead blared what Minato could only assume was the starting siren.

As the quartet made their way in, heading for a shadowy overpass where the rubble field was thick with debris, Minato laid his hands on Tsukiumi and Musubi's shoulders and slowly pulled them further behind Homura.

"Any idea why he's so upset at this?"

"I cannot fathom," said Tsukiumi. "Thy stratagem will allow us to fight, as Sekirei were meant to."

"Hmm…" Musubi was lost in thought for a moment, a finger pressed to her lower lip. "Didn't he already do something like this? You know, the night he was winged?"

"I can hear you," Homura called over his shoulder. "And yeah, I did. So forgive me if I don't like being offered up on a platter _again_."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's just… I don't like this. I don't like this at all," Momo whimpered. Her black hair's long locks bounced along with her reasonably-endowed chest as well as her scabbarded estoc, ringing as its tip struck the wall. Her cyan one-piece dress showed small spots of sweat, even though it was fairly cool out, and she kept itching the skin beneath her black leather bracers.

"Well, Hayato asked, you said yes. No backing out now," Mutsu scolded his female counterpart as they trudged through the debris field.

It seems that a few Sekirei battles had taken place here, probably between the Discipline Squad and some other groups who'd tried to make their own escape. At least, that's the best he could surmise, since rain and wind didn't leave deep cuts in solid stone. Nor did that spread the rubble out this far. Here and there, sections of the now defunct highway still stood, along with the foundations of destroyed buildings. Mutsu could even see a sink, still attached to a section of wall that clung for dear life in the midst of the devastation, defiantly standing in the middle of what must've been a small auto plant, from the tire-guides and ruined garage doors that lay within the same block of land. A thought occurred to him.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Mikogami barked, a little more defensively than usual. "Wait, where are you going?"

Mutsu was only gone for a moment. Something so casual would've been dismissed by the common surveyor, making it an ideal spot for hiding a Jinki. But no, it seemed Minaka had chosen a different place in this haystack of a battleground.

"There! Let's try that one!" Mikogami said, pointing to what looked like a two-story office complex. "The Chairman said one of the Jinki was in a building with him, so let's try a building!"

Approaching the building, Mutsu noted that the front glass door was open. The locking mechanism had long since broken, so he could only conclude that at some point recently (given how a strong gust of wind could slam that door shut), someone had entered. Now, whether it was a homeless bum or an enemy Sekirei? That was still up in the air.

Inside, it was pretty dark, almost like a spooky asylum without the creepy lab equipment. Paint chips littered the edged of the tile flooring from where they'd fallen off the walls. Some of the windows had been boarded up, with only a few stray beams of sunlight to illuminate this powerless structure. Momo elected to lead the way, braving the darkness from the front rather than stand the thought of someone jumping her from behind. At least, that's what she told her master.

The trio made as little noise as possible, Mutsu remaining by Mikogami's side at all times in case someone tried to spring from a hiding place. And, of course, Momo wasn't far, either, checking each room they past for any signs of their prize, or of their as-yet-undiscovered guest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright," Minato said quietly. They were still beneath the shadow of the overpass, next to a vacant lot that was about two blocks away from the concrete plant, if this area had sidewalks to speak of. "This is where we separate. Keep a low profile, Musubi, and don't fight unless you have to."

Musubi nodded, her bubbly expression now quite steadfast. "Got it."

"Best of luck, Musubi," Tsukiumi said, to which the younger Sekirei nodded before bounding off across the ruined lot as fast as her athletic (and well-formed, her Ashikabi had to admit) legs would go.

Remaining beneath the overpass, Minato quietly counted to thirty before motioning for Tsukiumi and Homura to move out.

"You realize you just asked Musubi, _Musubi_ , to be subtle, right?" Homura asked as they entered the sunlight.

"Yeah," Minato sighed wearily. "But she's got the least-flashiest powers out of you three, so if she gets into a fight it won't draw as much attention."

Homura raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth stretching into a skeptical half-grin. "You're on."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Momo turned her head, her dress furling out as her body followed, for while Master and Mutsu continued walking, if she listened very carefully, she thought she could hear footsteps, just under the echo of Master's uppity muttering about how Mutsu had, again, called him by his first name.

And then, just when she was about to keep going, out of the corner of her eye, something moved.

It was only visible for an instant, but in that instant a black shape blurred across the opposite end of the hallway, where the light from the windows barely reached. It made barely a sound, the light thwuhp of a clothed foot falling against the tile being the only signal of its presence, had she not seen it.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Mikogami asked, suddenly finding himself being crushed by a frightened Sekirei. "Momo… I swear you're... Trying to choke me…"

"I'm sorry!" cried the girl, leaping off of her Master.

Mutsu peered around the corner and took a look. He didn't hear anything, not a breath or a footstep, just the faint echos of fighting reverberating from outside.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," he said.

"I'll be right back, Master!" Momo cried, drawing her sword and sprinting down the hall.

"Hey, wait!"

At the sound of her approach, Mutsu heard another set of feet take off further into the building. Someone was _definitely_ in there with them, and Momo, surprisingly, had the right idea.

"Hey, Mutsu!" the Ashikabi objected as he was lifted like a sack of potatoes.

"We're going after them, whoever they are."

"Rgh, fine…" Mikogami huffed, crossing his arms as he continued to be jostled around.

"Why did you bring her, anyway? You know how she is when she's nervous," Mutsu asked.

"I thought this would be a good chance for her to get her feet wet. Besides, we have five more Jinki to win if we don't get one today."

Despite her timidity, Momo at least knew better than to let someone skulk. The sounds of Mutsu and Master behind her, reassuring her, she continued her pursuit of the mysterious shape. Round and down and all around the building she chased it, always catching a glimpse of a stray hand or boot but never the full form. It led her up stairwells and through doors, trying to shake her, but the Sekirei was dead-set on her course. Several times, Mutsu and Master tried to head it off, but it always disappeared somewhere, usually through a window, before they could catch it.

While chasing it, Momo had to wonder why it hadn't left yet. It's not like this place was on lock-down, and she knew _she_ wouldn't stick around while being chased.

Wait a minute…

Was _it_ looking for a Jinki, too?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seo's efforts continued to be as futile as his Sekirei's.

"Well, I got nothing," Hikari said, jumping down from a rack of coils.

"Same here," Seo replied. He turned to see his second Sekirei approaching. "How 'bout-"

Hibiki's finger flew to her lips in warning. Seo hushed up immediately, as did Hikari, as they followed to where Hibiki's finger pointed. They could hear it, too: sobbing, coming from a young girl, maybe in her early teenage years.

Peering around the corner, Seo saw just that: a short, tanned girl, dressed in a black leather top with matching stockings and bloomers (and hair). She also had these weird strips (of leather, no doubt) dangling down her back like drawstrings on a sweatshirt, like they were _begging_ to be grabbed.

And, as was typical of his somewhat bull-headed nature, Seo decided that the best course of action was to just walk right up to this girl, who Seo would be money on being a Sekirei, and start talking to her.

"Hey kid, are you lost?" he asked.

The girl spun around, frightened out of her wits and immediately tried to run for it. Seo grabbed her by the

"Hey, don't run! I just wanna-"

"Nooo!" the girl wailed, sinking to her knees and bawling her eyes out. "Now I'll be stained, and Master will never look at me again!"

Seo looked like he was about to bust an artery, from how hard his face had scrunched up in anger and confusion.

"What are you even-"

" _You sick BASTARD!_ "

CLONK!

And just like that, Seo was eating gravel as something metallic banged him on the back of the head and sent him face-first to the ground, the captive Sekirei escaping from his grasp.

"Alright," Seo growled, pushing himself to his feet and rubbing the fresh lump on his head. "Who has the-"

CLONK!

This was followed by the crackle of lightning, the iron pipe making an excellent focus for Hibiki and Hikari's wrathful vengeance on one Sanada Nishi. Behind him, Kujika was wondering who exactly she was supposed to be fighting: the man or the twins.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nearby, a trio of eavesdroppers listened in on the scuffle. They were just outside the edge of the substation, so Minato couldn't quite make out what words were exchanged.

"Okay, so it's not here," Homura said.

"And how dost thou know, Homura?" Tsukiumi asked, skeptical.

"I think we'd know if Seo or Sanada had found a Jinki. They'd be fighting for it, not…" Homura pursed his lips. "Whatever it is they're arguing over."

"What _are_ they upset about, anyway?" Minato asked.

"Well, Kaoru-san hath been treacherously struck from behind, and Sanada…" Tsukiumi trailed off, looking just as annoyed. Or perturbed. Maybe both?

"What?" Minato asked again.

Tsukiumi's lips trembled as she held in an outburst. " _Tisnoneofourconcern_!" she finally rattled off, before grabbing Minato by the wrist and hauling him away. "Come! Let us find Musubi and aid in her search!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And what rotten luck she was having.

Musubi had already poked and prodded her way through two different machines, neither of which she had any idea what they were. It wasn't like like Matsu was here to answer her.

She'd at first smashed her way through one set of pipes and wires, but when she remembered how Minato had wanted her to stay quiet, to not draw attention to herself, she decided that the best course of action would be to (quietly) bend the parts aside until she found a Jinki.

So, naturally, there was a long line of machines with pistons and rods and other bits of metal flowered-out from the holes she'd left. But she was up on a catwalk right now, so no one would notice, right?

As she waded through the mist that began creeping into the large chamber, Musubi shivered a little. She was resistant to the cold, being a Sekirei, but she still wished her stockings did a better job of keeping her legs warm. Maybe she should've thought about some pants. But it was sunny outside; the weatherman said nothing but clear skies all day! Why would she have brought pants?

Wait… Maybe the clouds had all gone inside today… It would explain why they were in here with her.

A footstep alerted her to another presence in the room. It sounded like it was up here, among the web of metal walkways that floated over all this junk.

The heel of a shoe sounded again and Musubi moved with it. She could tell where it was now: on the opposite side of the room. When it moved left, she moved left. When it went right, so did she. It was like playing goalie without a ball. Or a goal. Or a field. Or a team.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it wasn't like soccer at all.

She finally got tired of waiting and straight-up leapt off the guard rail, sailing through the air at her mysterious rival. The silhouette that Musubi spotted was _definitely_ a girl, with long hair and heeled boots and a really pretty dress, from how the sleeves and folds furrowed out from her. They kind of reminded her of Kazehana's purple singlet, with the sleeves being over-long while the dress itself was skin-tight.

These sleeves flapped about as this unseen girl dashed away from Musubi. The brunette had misjudged the leap, forgetting that there would also be a guardrail on the _other_ side as well, and as such _just_ managed to shoot a hand out and flip herself to her feet, using the guardrail like the pin on a hinge.

The two girls chased each other all around the chamber, Musubi's physical strength offset by her inability to navigate. She would've caught up to this girl by now, but this person kept leaping off the side and leap-frogging over the tops of the machines! How could _they_ see in here but Musubi couldn't?

That was when Musubi had an idea. It was a cunning plan, actually.

"I'm Sekirei No. 88, Musubi! Sahashi Minato's my Ashikabi!" she shouted.

"Sekirei No. 65, Taki," a voice answered back. " _My_ Ashikabi is Mikogami Hayato."

"Found you!" Musubi shouted, lunging towards Taki's call.

"Think again, sweetie," Taki called as the brunette swung at empty fog, nearly sending herself over the side of the guard rail.

Elsewhere in the mist, Taki giggled. "Hide-and-seek is my specialty. This should be fun!"

Rattling her brains back into place, Musubi pumped her fists. "Ready or not, because here I come!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the office building, the one being pursued by Momo had finally had enough of her tireless chase. Rounding a corner, already hearing Mutsu's heavier footsteps echoing on an intercept course, the unseen shadow reached a stairwell and began making his way down…

* * *

 **Author's comment:**

And it's _FINALLY_ done! Holy crap, my nerves are shot from all this. Thank you Eagles for writing "Hotel California" and getting me back on track.

Speaking of writing, if you don't want the next chapter to take until Christmas time, better leave me a review or three. Part of why I took so damn long was because in the ensuing three-and-a-half weeks since I re-posted Chapter 47, my fic only saw _one_ new review. Come on, guys! I'm integrating Lovecraft-inspired villains who wield Iron Maiden songs as weapons into "Highlander by-way-of Sexy Women: The Anime", and you can't even spare a thought on _any_ of the 150,402 (or so) words I've typed up since last March? Am I _that_ unremarkable?

If I don't see some new reviews up, for this chapter or any other one, it's going to take me another month to get Chapter 49 done. I don't want it to take a month. I want this thing done _now_ , so I (and everyone else) can view it in its full glory.

If you're nervous about commenting on someone else's work, now's as good a time as any to practice. I assure you, my ego is more than large enough to take it.


	49. Dancing Shadows on the Wall

So he says to me, "You gotta do somethin' _smart_ , baby! SOMETHIN' BIG!"

He says "You wanna be a supervillain right?" And I go "Yeah baby, yeah-YEAH! WHADDO I GOTTA DO?!"

* * *

 **Chapter 49: Dancing Shadows on the Wall**

"Momo, slow down!" she heard Master call. She didn't, not if she could still hear him. Besides, a Single Number like Mutsu wouldn't have any problems keeping up with her. Master worried for her, she knew, and while she loved his attentions towards her, she also knew how much her gutlessness annoyed him. She'd failed to capture Juusa upon their first encounter and had needed Yomi's help to apprehend her, earning her a scolding from Master. Juusa hadn't been that tough a foe; Momo's shortcomings lay in her inability to stand her ground. Then again, that first instinct to flee had let her avoid taking a bo-staff to the face, possibly even saved her crest. But fleeing wouldn't win the Plan, and some day Momo would meet someone she couldn't outrun.

Today would be the day she did what he wanted: got her feet wet, help overcome her anxiety with fighting. Though, truthfully, she'd much rather be snuggled up to Master in his large chair, hugging her cheek to his. Her reward for a job well done, she told herself.

Eventually, the chase led to the basement, where there were no lights but her vision could still penetrate the pitch-black darkness. Her rapier at the ready, Mutsu and Master's cries approaching but a little further away than she would've liked, she made her way down the steps. The basement was quiet, not a sound or a breath of air to pierce the bone-chilling silence. Momo's feet shuffled along the floor, her back to the wall as she tried to determine where her quarry went. She wasn't alone down here; she could feel it in her bones. But where…

That's when her ears picked up a single, small sound: the sound of a blade being drawn from a sheath. It came from the farthest corner of the basement, in a small room behind the cold, dead boiler. Keeping her wits as sharp as her rapier, she continued to shuffle, still sweeping the room in search of anything that might take her by surprise.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw nothing beyond the boiler but a wall and a single perpendicular door. Now or never.

Screwing her eyes shut before common sense dictated she open the again, Momo darted over and kicked in the door, leveling her blade at the room's solitary occupant.

"My my," said the black shape, her feminine voice pleasant and yet somehow completely absent of anything genuine… _soul_. "'Unlucky' wouldn't _begin_ to cut it."

Right away, Momo rushed forward, able to make out her new foe's chest enough to aim her estoc. Her opponent didn't even draw her sword; she merely lifted it from her waist and turned aside Momo's attack with the handle. Momo's next swipe was dodged, her foe bending over backwards and allowing it to harmlessly pass over her. It was only after Momo retracted for another go did Black finally stand up and draw, hearing the approaching footfalls of this little birdie's back-up.

Mikogami and Mutsu arrived just in time to hear Momo's scream of agony and the splatter of blood on the bricks. From where Mutsu stood atop the staircase, he could see Momo stumbling towards the light, clutching her neck.

"Master…" she burbled, blood trickling down her chin from where it leaked from her mouth.

As she stepped into the illuminating shaft, Momo finally coughed her last breath and sank to the floor, a crimson tide spilling from her throat and spreading in a puddle around her, soaking into her dress. Her estoc clanged to the ground, its owners hands having lost any life to them.

Her killer stepped over her fallen form and watched her Sekirei crest dissipate, as casually as one would watch a car drive by.

"Well, she wasn't much," said Karasuba, flipping her over with a nudge of her toe. She then looked up at Mikogami's guardian. "How about you? It's been a while, Mutsu."

"Fight her, Mutsu!" Mikogami ordered, biting back tears; a few got out and into his pained grimace. She was the third one, and had the Ashikabi of the South been less clouded by rage, he might've ordered a different course.

Mutsu looked to the corpse of his fellow Sekirei, tiny bubbles still forming from where her failing breath tried to escape, then at the blade of Karasuba's sword.

"No." And with that, they were gone, out the window and into the open air. "There's nothing to be gained from fighting that woman."

Down in the dark, Karasuba watched them go. Let them run. In the end, they'd die, if not from her then someone else.

With that final thought, Karasuba left and went up into the light. A dozen seconds after she left, Momo's quarry, who had sequestered himself within the storage space beneath stairs, using the sounds of Momo's pursuit to mask his padded footfalls, emerged from his hiding place.

Most fortunate that Karasuba had been here. When she hadn't started off with the rest of the Squad, it could only mean that she would've taken a place on the battlefield. With Musubi present, no one could've stopped her from attending. He was surprised, though, that she'd actually agreed to hide instead of going after Musubi right away.

And if not for his suspicion that Musubi was somewhere out there, Karasuba would probably be waiting for him at the top of the stairs, or sought out his hiding spot. Even with the cloth padding on the soles of his boots, made to dampen his footfalls, he wasn't so arrogant as to assume Karasuba hadn't heard him. But then, perhaps she didn't hear, or simply didn't care. Thus far his hubris hadn't been the death of him.

Well, no sense in further delaying the inevitable. Tugging on the lapels of his fleece, the one who'd unwillingly roped Momo into an untimely demise emerged from the basement, carrying his erstwhile pursuer's husk. He found no Black Sekirei there, and just as well, so he snuck away, deciding that the concrete plant would be his next stop. The only thing left to do now was go up on to the roof and toss the near-dead Sekirei to MBI. If Number 4 wasn't going to be courteous, then he might as well pick up her slack.

All in all, this had been a fruitless endeavor. Hopefully the next grounds would prove more bountiful.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"MUTSU, I _ORDER YOU_ TO GO BACK AND FIGHT HER!"

It was only now, certain that the Black Sekirei or anyone else hadn't followed them, that Mutsu set his Ashikabi down. Mikogami immediately turned around and swung a furious right-hook at Mutsu's head. Rather than block or even avoid it, the Earth Sekirei took it right on the jaw. To him, it was little more than a bump. But to Mikogami, it was the only thing he could do at the moment, and Mutsu cared for his Ashikabi enough to let him have this small recompense.

"Why?!" Mikogami swung again, and once more Mutsu accepted it without complaint. "You said you'd follow me wherever I went! You said, 'I'll fight for you, even if it costs me my life'! So why the hell did you turn tail and _run?!_ "

The third time, Mikogami's fist socked into Mutsu's hand like a baseball to a glove, Number 5 grabbing hold of it while his Ashikabi thrashed in his grip.

"Listen, Hayato," Mutsu said, lowering the boy's trembling fist away from his head. Mikogami sniffled a little bit, then squinted fresh tears from his eyes as Mutsu continued. "What happened to Momo is going to happen again. Even if you somehow manage to keep us all on our feet, we'll still have to fight each other. You can't have multiple winners in this game-"

"Don't you _dare_ call it a game!" the boy yelled.

Mutsu sighed, then squatted down so that he was level with Mikogami's face. "Fine. You can't have multiple victors. That's just the rules. One Sekirei, one Ashikabi. That's something you'll have to accept if you want to win."

Mikogami bit his trembling lip. "You still haven't answered my question," he sobbed.

Mutsu stood tall once again, his eyes remaining focused on his Ashikabi. "I didn't fight her because I can't win against her. Not there, and not yet. I'm your Sekirei, but I won't follow an order that'll only serve your ego, or your anger."

Mutsu slung his sword over his shoulder, gripping and unflexing his muscles, trying to relieve some of the tension he was feeling. His erstwhile master had lowered his head, his ego finally catching back up to him. "If you see another one of us bite it, and respond like that to Juusa or Mitsuki or even Akitsu, I know they won't question it. They're too loyal to you, Mikogami."

The boy felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and looked up.

"So you need get a grip, for all our sakes."

Mikogami snorted loudly, and wiped away his tears, blinking the redness away from his eyes.

"Well, alright then," he said nonchalantly. He stood up straight and dusted off his white jacket. "Then let's move on and link back up with Taki."

Mikogami folded his arms and turned his back to Mutsu, bending his knees and awaiting to be picked up.

 _One step forward, one step back,_ Mutsu thought. It didn't help that he was planning on carrying Hayato anyway. No doubt this would only reinforce his massive ego.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hold up," Homura said. Minato halted but Tsukiumi did not, continuing on. Homura had to actually reach out and grab her by the wrist to prevent her from going out and exposing where they were. When she jerked her hand away and opened her mouth, Homura's finger flew to his mask. She couldn't see his lips, but she got the message, albeit begrudgingly.

Minato peeked through a hole in the concrete wall. There, out in the middle of the abandoned parking lot, was a trio of children playing a game with two members of the Discipline Squad, Benitsubasa and Haihane.

One was a tanned blonde teenager in a bikini top and miniskirt, both black. Another was a dark-haired girl, equally tanned and equally black-clad, wearing some leather attire that evoked a sort of American-Western biker. Or at least it _would_ have, if she didn't look like a twelve-year-old.

The last was a petite, almost white-haired girl with the long, billowy sleeves of her sweater flapping about as she twirled and skipped all over the place with her friends. She actually looked pretty cute, like a child playing dress-up with their parents' clothes, trying to grow up faster and be their own boss.

 _Man, if I'd listened to Mom, I would've known that grown-ups can't be their own boss, either_ , Minato joked to himself.

But it was clear that what the children thought was a game had an entirely different meaning to the Squad.

The Red and Blue Sekirei chased the children all over the lot, Benitsubasa firing off Pulverizing Cannon blasts and Haihane shredding old, broken-down cars with her claws. The children were pretty agile, but not nearly as coordinated. One of two things saved them: either their anarchic movements, or the fact that when the two older Sekirei would almost be on top of one (or both), the third would run up and poke them in the butt before scurrying away. It took everything Minato had not to fart through his mouth the first time he saw it.

"Grmph, heh, should we help them?" Minato asked, only just able to control himself.

"They are enemy Sekirei and have chosen their battle. If they fall, it will be of their own doing," said Tsukiumi. "Besides which, if not today, then someday by my hand."

Minato's jaw dropped at how casually Tsukiumi had said that, his good mood shot dead. They were just kids! Two of them literally! And she would just attack or even _kill_ them?

Tsukiumi caught his look.

"I repeat: they are enemy Sekirei. Children or no, the Plan holds no prejudice."

"I think what Tsukiumi means to say," Homura said, seeing that her words only exacerbated the issue, "is that other Sekirei wouldn't show restraint against them. So

"So are we no better than other Sekirei? Am _I_ no better than some other Ashikabi?" Minato countered.

Homura paused at this, but Tsukiumi did not.

"Know this, husband," Tsukiumi said, taking his hand between her own and looking him in the eye, "I will not face them today, if I musn't. But to stay by thy side forever, as is promised to the final one, they must fall. And given the choice between them, or myself, to remain wedded to thee, my beloved Ashikabi there is no choice."

She lowered her hands and kissed him on the cheek, pressing herself up against him briefly while Homura watched. He felt a little envious at the sight of physical contact, but quashed it as quickly as it came. He would be the one to determine his thoughts, not his body. Actually, maybe Tsukiumi might make a good confidant if he needed one…

No. 6 shook his head as the battle beyond the wall continued, spying an opportunity to move as soon as the Squad and the children moved behind a nearby rock pile, probably part of a quarry at one point. As such, he only spotted the danger out of the corner of his eye.

" _MINATO, DOWN!_ "

Tsukiumi was off of him in an instant but Minato wouldn't let her go, carrying sideways as he'd done to both of his "wives" they day he'd met Tsukiumi, and the night Kazehana had emerged. He only caught a blur, square-shaped as it sailed by where he'd been standing before striking a nearby chain-link fence post. Mutual annihilation resulted as the rock exploded, tearing the post's upper half off of the base.

Homura knew that attack well, and already spied the culprit trying to make his escape with his Ashikabi underhand. He didn't figure Mutsu for a coward, certainly not someone who'd sneak-attack another Sekirei. But Mikogami? That was right up his alley.

"Hey, where are _you_ going?!" The Fire Sekirei barked. Mutsu had just about reached the concrete plant when he felt the heat. With blinding speed, his sword split the smooth asphalt beneath him and see-sawed a massive slab up in front of him. The fire turned the black barrier molten-red but it served its purpose, allowing Mutsu to gain some distance between his attackers and set his Ashikabi down.

"What do _you_ people want?" Mikogami asked, dusting off his clothes.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Minato squawked. "You could've killed someone!"

"Look, even if I did whatever it is you think I did," replied the Ashikabi of the South with an arrogant shrug, "isn't that the name of the game?"

"Well, yeah, but…!" Minato's retort was lost before Homura stepped in.

"Killing Ashikabi is strictly forbidden," said the former Guardian. "So no, that's _not_ the game, kid."

Mikogami. "What did you call me?"

" _He_ called thee a child," said Tsukiumi, a tic appearing on her forehead. "I say thou art a spoilt brat with no spine. Or manners."

Mikogami's stare wasn't as furious or intimidating as Tsukiumi's, but his youthful face wasn't giving her an inch.

"Mutsu."

"Yeah, I get the message," the Earth Sekirei huffed, readying his weapon.

"Hmph. You think you can take us both?" said Homura, a ball of fire appearing in his hand. He then glanced at Tsukiumi, who caught his look.

"I might've honored him with single combat, but a coward's act shalt not be forgiven!"

"I honestly don't care," Mutsu said, shifting sideways to try to maneuver into a spot where there was less rubble. "You wanted a fight, now you got one."

"Thou hypocrite! Thou wert the one to strike first!" Tsukiumi pointed to where the earthen square lay broken a dozen yards away.

Mutsu looked at it, then back at the two enemy Sekirei, sighed in resignation, and touched his weapon to the ground. "Shatterpoint."

Like his usual attack pattern, a grid of squares carved themselves out of the smooth asphalt towards Tsukiumi and Homura. The squares then popped up and exploded like bouncy betties, but Tsukiumi and Homura had already split up, trying to force Mutsu to divide his attention between the two. This worked just as well for him, because now they couldn't combine their powers.

All the while, Mikogami and Minato were looking at each other, sizing the other one up for their first face-to-face meeting. Neither of them wanted to look at the concrete plant, afraid to give away their operative's presence within.

 _Hurry up and find that Jinki_ , they both thought at the same time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another swing-and-a-miss, and they were starting to pile up.

"Will you stop moving around and fight me?" Musubi whined.

"Sure, I'm just going to let you catch me, a'ight?" came the response, moving left. Musubi leapt at it, tripping over the guardrail again, but Taki had already moved on. On the left, no! Right in front! Right? Right! No, behind! Left-behind! Gah, Musubi's head was starting to spin from all the spinning. Her eyes were whirling inside their sockets and she nearly fell off a third time, shooting out a hand to steady herself and reorient her center of gravity. Then she remembered-

"Hey, I thought you were going to give up!" Musubi complained, hauling herself back up. She heard Taki sigh for some reason, giving her away again.

No holding back this time. Pink energy swirled around Musubi's hand. "BEAR-"

Through the mist, she saw an instant of Taki's shape shifting right before slowing a little.

"FIST!"

For a brief moment, the sheer force of Musubi's rush opened a tunnel in the fog and allowed her to see her opponent clearly. Taki was very pretty, with silver-grey hair that went well with her dress. Now the dress _really_ looked like Kazehana's, Taki's stomach and boobs even more exposed to the air.

But as Musubi's fist grazed Taki's shoulder and sent her whirring away, almost sending her off off the catwalk, what _really_ boggled Musubi's mind was how, for the little she wore around her body, was Taki not _freezing_ in this fog?

The mist closed up again, almost like it was alive, as Taki vanished once more. After a few seconds, Musubi heard a pained groan from the other side of the room.

"Oww… That really hurt!"

"I see you!" Musubi called, running towards the sound. When she got there, Taki was gone again.

"Wait! Time-out!" came the cry.

"No time-outs!" Musubi shot back. "Only our Ashikabis get time-outs!"

"Rgh, who's there?" the Mist Sekirei called, this time from a different area, closer.

"I'm here!" Musubi replied enthusiastically.

"No, that's not what I-"

"Here I come!"

"Seriously, I think there's-"

"Let's go, Taki!"

A hand blurred out from behind a large machine as Musubi passed by it and smacked her dead in the face, sending her flying back down to the ground. She hit some old toolbox on wheels on her way down; at least, that's what it _had_ been, before her behind had crumpled it up upon crash-landing.

"Owie…" she moaned, rubbing her sore behind with one hand while clutching her ringing head with another. Through the ringing, she heard the sounds of a struggle, and looked up to see it.

As she did, the struggle ceased and Musubi heard Taki yelp in pain as she, too, was cast to the ground, landing on her stomach. The Mist Sekirei was a lot more rattled and a lump was forming on the side of her face, just like Musubi's.

Up on the catwalk, Musubi could see someone else. Taki lay in front of her, rubbing her sore cheek, but the one who'd punched her was still up there. It was too foggy to see clearly, but she could make out a large head with a short, skull-fitting buzzcut. They were a big person, too, and the clothes they wore were pretty loose. The one exception was the high collar around their… Jacket? Coat? Musubi couldn't tell. It was the only thing they wore that had a distinct shape.

Now all of this sounded kinda familiar, especially when the fog clear enough for her to see their yellow eyes. Who did she know with eyes like that… It couldn't be!

"Kagedansu?" she called, unable to comprehend why he would be here of all places. "Is that you?"

The figure turned toward the sound of her voice. It spared her a glance before leaping through a glassless window to some kind of indoor control area. The sliding of metal sounded the opening of some kind of portcullis, the unknowable figure vanishing further into the plant's darkened passageways.

"Hey, wait!" Musubi hollered, before she was brained on the back of the head.

Taki loomed over her as she fell to the ground, dropping shaft of iron and going straight for the collar of Musubi's gi. It was all that stood between her and her enemy's crest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato sensed danger to his girl (now _that_ felt right when it was about Musubi) and broke eye contact with Mikogami, running into the concrete plant. Mikogami did the same, their respective Sekirei pausing in their skirmish.

Tsukiumi, her dress torn about the waist and her white underskirt covered with crushed asphalt, locked eyes with Homura and they both nodded in sync, just as Mustu broke through the ground beneath her. She blasted down, flooding the tunnel with slurry and forcing her foe back into the Earth. At this point, Homura was already catching up with their Ashikabi, and so didn't see Mutsu's sword slice through the deluge and carve a nasty gash along Tsukiumi's bare thigh. The Water Sekirei gritted her teeth in pain and let loose another rocket-stream of water, this time to distance herself.

As she landed, Mutsu had wedged his scabbard into the walls and was now on the surface once more, his springboard maneuver taking him just high enough to clear ground-level. He heard Homura's retreating footsteps, and began considering his options.

All of which consisted of the fastest way to deal with the fierce blonde that was even now shooting liquid cannonballs at him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato had just now entered the same chamber as Musubi, where he heard his favorite brunette chasing someone around the room. He knew it was her because the strange fog in there was even now dissipating, allowing him to see the rather comical sight of Musubi pursuing another girl all over the machinery. As urgent as it was, Minato was momentarily distracted by how much hangtime their boobs were getting.

"Stop it!" the other girl yelped.

"I guess you weren't ready, after all, huh?" Musubi called, her energized determination plastered all over her face.

"If you keep this up, _neither_ of us will get the Jinki!"

Musubi stopped, confused, with fist poised and ready to strike. "The what?"

"Musubi…" Minato groaned, his hand slapping his forehead. "We went over this…"

The brunette turned towards the sound of his voice, and her face lit up like a flood lamp. "Oh, Minato!"

Next thing the boy knew, he was on the ground, tackled by Musubi's affectionate hug. "I missed you!"

"Musu-bi, you've been gone for… less than an hour." It was hard to control his airflow; he could feel his ribs being crushed like an accordion by Musubi's loving attack.

"I know, but it feels so much longer than that!" she chirped happily. Minato could almost see the lightbulb above her head flicker back on. "Oh, right! … The Jinki."

Musubi's cheery expression dimmed. "I couldn't find it, Minato-sama. I'm sorry."

The former ronin sighed. Worth a shot, but at least Musubi hadn't been terminated. Or brought the roof down on her head.

Still embracing Musubi (as she was in no hurry to get off him), Minato noticed that the other Sekirei was looking for an exit. Unfortunately, the two of them were sitting in front of one, and the window bay above didn't seem too promising, judging by the look on her face.

"Someone lose a snot-nosed brat?" called Homura from behind. He was strolling down the hallway with the Ashikabi of the South hanging from his hand, the Fire Sekirei refusing to let go of his collar.

"I'm warning you, put me down right now or-" Mikogami's words caught in his mouth as he saw Taki staring straight back into his eyes. Neither of them had any idea what to make of the sight until Homura dropped the little upstart.

Following the hard landing, Mikogami was up and dusting himself off, sneering at Homura and walking away. He only made it about five steps before Taki sprang forward and threw her limbs around him, Mikogami the perfect height for her exposed cleavage to smush him right in the face.

"Master, you found me!" she exclaimed, looking down and feeling bits of grittle between him and her soft breasts. "Are you still well?"

"Mmphn, Ta-hwe," was the best Mikogami could manage with two blocked airways, plus the fact that he stumbled from the sudden shift in center-of-gravity.

"Try again, Master," she said, touching her feet back down on the ground from Mikogami's hips and allowing his head to slide free, shuddering a little at how his face dragged against her sensitive mounds.

"I said I'm fine," he said. Taki still had his upper half hugged to her chest while his legs lay limp and sprawled out around him.

"Glad to hear it!" she smiled at him, before brushing her silver hair out of his eyes and looking around. "So where are Mutsu and Momo?"

"I'm right here," came a familiar baritone voice. The Earth Sekirei emerged from behind Musubi and Minato, completely drenched from head to toe and the end of the orange scarf about his neck sliced cleanly off. "But we lost Momo."

"Oh." Taki's smile dimmed before her features sank. "Ooh…"

Her master ran a hand through her hair, massaging her scalp. "Then we'll just have to win. She probably went down thinking we were going to win. Frankly, I don't care either way. We can't let her down now."

Taki sniffed a little and nodded at this. No one noticed Mutsu raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

That may have been due to the wheels in Minato's head continuing to churn. Looking at the Ashikabi of the South, no more than a few years younger than him, quietly stroking his Sekirei even as Minato himself ran a hand through Musubi's hair. This was the same kid who'd sent that scythe-girl after Kusano, and whom he'd heard called his team a "collection", not to mention that said collection was mostly comprised of Sekirei that he kidnapped. Yet listening to the two girls purring, happily nuzzling their respective Ashikabi, they almost sounded identical.

It was… Surreal, to say the least. And a little scary, to think that Sekirei would just change on a dime when winged. He was starting to see Homura's fears from a new position.

"What?" the boy quipped, noticing Minato's gawking. "You're an Ashikabi, too, so quit your staring."

Minato started, then nodded, then remembered who it was he was talking, and was about to come back with a retort when he was rudely interrupted by a deafening foghorn.

" _Attention, players!_ " Minaka's voice boomed overhead, broadcast by the helicopter, no doubt. " _Jinki No. 2 has been claimed! Better hurry; time and destiny wait for no one!"_

"Crap! We already lost one! Let's go, now!" Mikogami barked, and without hesitation Taki was off of him, taking his hand and running towards a door in the corner of the room, behind a wall of mixers.

"Craven! Our battle hath yet to conclude!"

And just when Minato was starting to worry, turning to see Tsukiumi coming out of the hallway behind him-

Limping on her one good leg, her dress torn in at least half-a-dozen places with some of them showing blood, though not as much as the crimson stain that marred her beautiful thigh. A bruise was forming on the side of her face and a small amount of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

So, worrying after all, then.

"Tsukiumi!" Minato and Musubi cried simultaneously. Mutsu had halted at being called a name and given Tsukiumi a look-over. Mikogami looked at his Sekirei, not shouting, not ordering, just trying to gauge Mutsu's intent. Said intent started to reveal itself when his hand drifted towards the hilt of his sword.

Right away, Homura was in front of his injured teammate.

"You want her, you have to go through me first," he stated, as fact, not threat.

"Keep thee out of this!" Tsukiumi objected. "Our battle hath become one-on-one and it shall finish as thus. I'll not shame myself by relying upon my rival for help in a duel that I am quite capable-"

"Hey, Tsukiumi?" Homura asked cooly, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Just shut up for a while."

"Wha-" The Water Sekirei's face was making like a thermometer and filling up with red, and Minato was instantly behind her, arms around her waist as she furiously thrashed at The Fire Sekirei. " _WHAT?!"_

"I'm with Tsukiumi," Musubi remarked. "She's _never_ quiet when she fights!"

" _SILENCE, THOU CHATTERBOX! MINATO, UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT!"_

As much as he loved pleasing his self-declared wife, that was one order Minato couldn't fill.

Mikogami's group was still standing near the door, the youth waiting for his Sekirei's response. Mutsu huffed and lowered his hand, turning and striding away with his Ashikabi and teammate.

"Count yourself lucky we're in a hurry," Mikogami called, before Mutsu roughly pulled him through the door. "Mutsu would've clobbered you, blondie!"

Tsukiumi was left mouthing standing there, mouthing half-formed angry syllables with her mouth while the enemy trio began their search once again. It was only after they left through the door that she finally broke free of Minato and started to enunciate.

"Why, that arrogant, uncouth, ill-tempered-"

Her storming forth was stopped by someone literally holding her back, and she quickly deduced who.

Minato's hand was gripping her own. "Please, just let it go, Tsukiumi. If you're not strong enough to beat him then it can't be helped."

She yanked her hand away. "I… Thou…" Her eyes flared and her face turned a furious red. " _WHO ARE THOU TO QUESTION MINE ABILITIES?! I THOUGHT THOU HADST FAITH IN ME, MINATO!_ "

With that, she leapt up onto the catwalk and stormed off into the plant, nursing her wounded pride while Minato felt a stab of pain in his chest.

He raised a hand to chase after her, but consigned himself to not.

"… And I don't want to lose you," he murmured to her disappearing form. If Tsukiumi heard him, she gave no sign.

Musubi was still sulking from being so viciously yelled at. "Tsukiumi…" she mournfully whispered.

Homura sighed. "Just give her time to cool off. She'll come around once this is over."

And that was all Minato needed to hear.

"Tsukiumi, wait!" he shouted, racing to a ladder and climbing up to the catwalk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Water Sekirei stomped through the dark corridors, her enhanced vision allowing her to see, if not particularly clearly in some spots. Uncaring as to who heard her, she only gave cursory glances to the rooms she passed, checking for any signs of enemy Sekirei. How _dare_ No. 5! She was No. 9, Tsukiumi, the strongest of all the Sekirei! He had no right to back off, not when she'd been on the verge of turning the tables on him!

And her husband had no right to doubt her on it.

As she rounded another ill-lit corner, she felt like she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, a product of some sixth-sense that Tsukiumi was still human enough to possess. Warily, she did a double-take, but there was no one there, so she continued on.

That feeling would not leave her alone. She must have taken after Matsu's paranoia to be so uppity as she was.

Or maybe it was because her ears caught a faint echo, that of someone letting out a musing hum.

" _Hhmmmmm…"_

The sound was too faint to tell which direction it came from, but that also meant whoever made it was quite the distance away.

"Who is there?" she called, summoning her water blade. "Show thyself!"

As expected, there was no response. At least, not from the source Tsukiumi sought.

"I hear her; she's this way!"

Tsukiumi pursed her lips at the sound of her companions' voices, and ran further on.

These corridors all looked the same, so much so that when she found the stairwell, she'd completely forgotten her bearings. If it was any consolation, she could simply pick a wall and blast her way through until she found the light. These damn signs were of no use when the facilities they represented had been stripped of all their equipment. And yet the fools had left all the machinery in the adjoining plant! Such wasteful behavior!

One trip up a flight and Tsukiumi was once again in featureless grey corridors, the concrete poured by the plant no doubt used to build this very same office structure.

Nothing.

Further nothing.

Rgh, what brain-addled monkey designed this place? Had they no sense of aesthetics? At the very least 'twould make it easier to navigate!

Oh the shock, another empty hallway, void of both foes, and decorum. On one end, a dozen meters away, naught but more darkness. But wait! On the other, a small flickering light, almost like that of a candle.

And someone standing in front of it.

At first, she thought it was Kagedansu, his fair hair shorn in exactly the same manner as the Shadow Sekirei's. But the dancing glow beyond him revealed his attire belonged to anyone but. The pants were too smooth, gliding down his legs, whereas his top was as wrinkled and flaccid as No. 67's pants. Strange was a small white chalk line drawn on ground at the heels of his boots, the light spilling between his legs to reveal it. His hands were in his pockets and the collar of his fleece hid the back of his neck, and Tsukiumi was about to demand that he identify himself when he spoke.

"Oh, hello," he said cordially, his back remaining to her.

Tsukiumi knew that voice.

It seems, at the very least, he was of his word. Right away, she began summoning her waters.

As the intent to flush out the tunnel rose within her, the shadow raised a hand, his gloved middle finger and thumb pressed together.

"And goodbye."

With a snap of his fingers a loud boom followed from above, and the ceiling was brought crashing down on Tsukiumi's head. She rushed forward, but caught off-guard in the midst of her concentration, she only just made it far enough to be within arm's reach of the fiend, before he casually whirled and backhanded her from whence she came.

Then her vision was filled with the sight of falling building, lying prone on the floor whilest ached her jaw.

This was the state her husband and the others found her in: pinned beneath several hundred pounds of concrete slabs, sunlight shining down on her like a gateway to heaven.

"Tsukiumi!" In spite of his human agility, Minato was the first to her side. "Are you alright?"

"I shall be, once this… Ngh, _refuse_ hath been removed."

"I dunno," Musubi said, hooking her fingers beneath the slab. ""You sound okay to me." With that, she flung it through the fresh hole in the roof, without so much as a breath of exertion.

"Yes, well…" Tsukiumi quickly darted to her feet and dusted herself off. "Thank thee, Musubi."

Musubi beamed at her. "No problem!"

Tsukiumi whirled, her finger pointing down the hall. " _Now hear this!_ "

Tsukiumi halted in her declaration, as she'd been about to announce that Hametsu had won this battle, that she refused to be laid low, and that when next they meet he shan't win again. But that strange flickering light was still there, at the end of the now-much-better-lit hallway.

"Any idea what it is?" Homura asked.

"Nay, I had not the time to investigate before Hametsu's ambush."

" _Hametsu did this?!"_ Three voices exclaimed, ranging from terrified to angered to excited.

"Yes, but tis not important. One Jinki remains and in my zeal I completely neglected to look for it. Come!" she led the way towards the light. "Our quest hath not yet finished!"

As the Water Sekirei strode down the hall, she noticed that the noon sunlight, along with the broken ceiling fragments, ended just before the strange chalk line. It reminded her of a tic on a very large ruler, and as soon as Tsukiumi reflected on it, its purpose became clear.

 _So… Thou art more versatile than I gave thee credit for, Hametsu._ Though, was it by his power of fire that he blew a hole in the roof, or some other means? Questions for later.

Around the corner was a large room, for board meetings by the look of it. At the head of the bolted-down wooden table sat a single man, his white hair stylized to look wild, his white coat, white gloves and white pants making him stand out even with such a weak source of light, and his glasses fully completed his "mad scientist" look.

The man's hands came together with a slow round of applause.

"Bravo, Number 9! It seems you've found me," Minaka said, standing up. "So you know that there is in fact a Jinki within the premises. Of course, it might've been the one that was already taken, but the only other one who'd know is the one who claimed it!"

"Director," Tsukiumi said with a courteous bow. "I never thought I'd encounter _thee_ here."

"Well, my dear, if I chose an obvious place, it would give away a Jinki's location, now wouldn't it?"

" _MINAKA!"_

A basilisk of flame roared past Tsukiumi, causing a few strands of her hair to smolder. It struck Minaka in the chest and blew him apart, sending fabric and gears all over the room, Tsukiumi ducking one as it nearly lodged itself in her head, instead dinking off of the wall and falling to the ground with the rest of Minaka's smoldering remains.

Wait, "gears"?

Panting with rage, Homura lowered his arm and confirmed that no, this was not Minaka, but one of his android lookalikes, built to take his place if he caught wind of a security threat. Or in this case, to pull a fast one on anyone with some personal grudge against him.

And, really, what had he been expecting? That the bastard would just leave himself in the middle of the battlefield unguarded, with at least three other people participating who all hated his guts? Homura's face slammed into the wall over and over again, leaving a forehead-sized dent that grew larger with each self-flagellation.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid-!_

"Hey, stop that!" Homura felt a gloved hand grip one shoulder and a second, non-gloved one take his other side. Musubi continued. "Poor wall…"

"I'd thought that Minato already lectured thee about throwing thy life away," Tsukiumi lectured; only when Homura turned to explain did he see that Tsukiumi was, of all things, _grinning_ at him.

"Did…" Minato finished the thought in his head. _Did Tsukiumi just make a joke?_

"Besides which," she pointed towards what used to be the Minaka-bot. "Take a look at thy handiwork."

The other three all did as Tsukiumi instructed, and at first saw nothing but ash, twisted metal and melted circuitry. But they then noticed something sticking out of the pile, buried up to its crystalline tip.

A Jinki.

"Grab it, Mutsu!"

At the rate which the fog rolled in one would think a smoke bomb had been set off. The next few moments were utter chaos as the Ashikabi of the South and the Sekirei of Earth swooped in and made a dash for the Jinki. Yelling, tripping, flashes of fire, streams of water, grunts of pain all sounded off amidst the pandemonium. Somewhere in the middle of it, Mutsu was muttering about how Taki had done her job too well, as someone had kicked the Jinki away in all the commotion and he'd completely lost track of it.

"Ow! Musubi!"

"Sorry, Kagari! I thought you were the sword-guy!"

"Taki, where'd you go?"

"I'm over here, Master! Hey, quit it!" _Slap!_ "Pervert!"

" _Thou_ _ **dare**_ _striketh my husband!?_

"Tsukiumi? Is that you?"

"Yes, tis I."

 _Clunk_. "Owowowow!"

"Mind the table, husband."

"It's on the table? Go, Mutsu!"

"That's not what she said."

"I think I found it!" _Scrunch._

"Musubi, that's a pencil-sharpener…"

"Well, it felt like a Jinki."

" _What- How- Why would the Jinki be attached to a wall?!_ "

"I dunno, because no one would look for it there?"

This cacophony continued for entire minutes on end until the foghorn from earlier blared again.

" _Attention, players! The second Jinki has been secured and the five-minute timer has expired! MBI thanks you for your cooperation and a most spectacular match! Congratulations are in order to the winners, now be good sports and disperse peacefully. You know the rules about attacking prize-holders."_

With that announcement, the fog began to clear. Minato had a red hand-shaped mark on his face and was still clutching his shin. Tsukiumi's sleeves were damp from the times she'd hit a wall point-blank with her waters and had them turn on her. Scorch marks dotted the room to demonstrate that Homura had managed to hit just about every piece of furniture with his flames, but none of the Sekirei. Musubi was still holding the crumpled-up remains of what used to be a hand-crank pencil sharpener, probably left behind in favor of its electronic replacement when the company went belly-up.

And Taki was curled up in a corner, hands above her head and eyes half-flinched-shut. She looked up just in time to see her Master glaring at her, sheepishly smiling at him in return.

"So, who got it?" Mikogami asked. One by one the present persons all shrugged in ignorance, which prompted a sigh. "Then someone else must've slipped in during the commotion and stolen it."

Straightening out his jacket, he about-faced and began to depart. "Let's go home. I don't know about you two, but I've had enough disappointment for one day."

Mutsu and Taki both nodded, Taki apparently not registering her master's ire.

Minato allowed them to leave. Personally, he'd had just about enough fighting as well.

"Come on, guys," he breathed wearily. "Let's get out of here."

Tsukiumi sighed in reply. "Agreed."

"Yeah, I think I'm ready to go home, too," Musubi remarked droopily.

Minato slung an arm around each of them and hugged them to his sides.

"Then let's go."

They started, Homura remaining silent.

Around the time where they tread beneath the overpass, for what would hopefully be the final time, Musubi spoke up.

"Hey, Minato?"

Minato looked down at her, her head still resting on his shoulder as her hazelnut-brown eyes gazed up at him. "What is it, Musubi?"

"We can carry you there. You know..." Her eyes left him and her head grew heavier on his shoulder. "If you want."

Minato reached up and mussed her brown hair. "You guys have done plenty," he said, smiling. "Let's just enjoy the stroll."

"Okay..." Musubi sounded like she might fall asleep on Minato's shoulder. Minato felt Tsukiumi's hug grow a little tighter, and his arm sink further into her cleavage.

Homura tailed them a few meters back, looking every which way but at his Ashikabi, and the two women attached.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rrrgh, we almost had it!"

Mikogami fumed as he stomped around the rooftop, Mutsu having stopped at his insistence. The Earth Sekirei was already reconsidering his decision.

"It was _right there_ , so close I could touch it!" The Ashikabi curled his fingers, as if grasping at the memory would make the Jinki fall into his hands.

"I have to wonder who took it," Mutsu remarked. "You'd think 88 would've spilled if they'd gotten it."

"I don't care who _got_ it, because we _didn't_ get it!" Mikogami fumed.

"And you!" He thrust a finger at Taki. "You call yourself one of my Sekirei?! You're supposed to be on your way to helping me win the Plan, and right when I need you the most you _hide in the corner?!_ "

Taki merely stood there, a stern expression on her face, taking it all in.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO _USELESS?!_ " he shouted in her face.

"Would it make you feel better if I promise to do better next time?" she asked, serious and disciplined as a soldier. Though, her face twitched as she tried very, _very_ hard to hide her smile.

Mikogami clenched a fist at this, his hand trembling.

"You already lost me _one_ Jinki, and after I put my trust in you to get it. There won't _be_ a next time." He turned his back to her, about to order Mutsu to continue the ride home.

"Oh, yeah, about that, Master…" Her sudden shift back to her usual relaxed self caused Mikogami's bluster to deflate. The blood left his face.

"Sigh, what is it, Taki?" Mikogami almost choked on his own tongue as Taki sent a hand plumbing wrist-deep into her cleavage, her stoic mask cracking further.

And pulled out a Jinki, labeled No. 1, no longer able to keep up the facade as she beamed brightly at her Ashikabi.

Mikogami's eyes were saucer-sized and even Mutsu looked a little taken aback by this. The Mist Sekirei bathed in her Master's surprise, before walking up to him, plucking open his fingers, placing the Jinki in his rigid palm, and then closing his hand over it.

"The one place no one would ever look," she said cheerily.

"YOU'RE THE BEST, TAKI!" Number 65 turned bright red as her Master tossed the Jinki to Mutsu and pulled her into a hug, followed by a hard kiss on the lips. Her legs turned to jelly and she melted against him, her silver-blue wings shining bright. Her face looked positively orgasmic; her Master's joy was resonating strongly through their bond. He only gripped her tighter when she began returning it, subconsciously asking for more.

"I'm sorry I called you useless," he said when they finally broke for air.

"Oh… That's okay, Master," Taki said woozily, before leaning in to kiss him again. By her drooped eyelids she still looked half-stupefied.

Mutsu waited patiently by the side, the Jinki clutched in one hand with his sword in the other. Let them have their moment, he told himself, but he was drawing the line if their cuddling got… "aggressive".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, a man in a white business suit hung up his cell phone, not even sparing his three female companions a glance, nor the outside as their limosine left the urban blight and re-entered Tokyo proper. No, the only one he was interested in contacting right now was his substitute secretary.

"Contact Number 10," Higa told them bluntly, still finding it a bit jarring to not hear Kakizaki's voice on the other end of the line.

"What should I tell her?"

"Her target is Mikogami Hayato and the two Sekirei accompanying him. One of them has a Jinki."

"Of course, sir.

"And ready our other asset."

With that, he closed the phone. Ten was capable but she'd proven herself unprepared to deal with Single Numbers. Fortunately, Higa now had someone who could, and like Ten, he'd do _anything_ for his Ashikabi's sake.


	50. Know Which Breath Will Be Your Last

**Chapter 50: Know Which Breath Will Be Your Last**

"We should do this again sometime," the blushing hime-haired brunette murmured, dreamily hugging Minato's arm to her bust.

Musubi being Musubi, Minato had to ask. "The match or the walk?"

Musubi's eyes fluttered shut, leaning more into him. "Yeees…" she sighed.

On his opposite arm, Minato felt another soft pair squeeze themselves against him. Tsukiumi never made eye contact, looking ahead with her usual dour demeanor, glaring down anyone who lingered on her tattered clothes for too long.

Minato nervously smiled, somewhat due from the envious glares. They were back in the city proper, and any city is bound to have pedestrians, and even if every man on the sidewalk were married, Minato knew he'd still be getting the hairy eyeball.

Rather than say anything, he twisted his arms and managed to get his hands around their waists. It was strenuous at first, as neither woman wanted to loosen their hold on their beau. But once his fingers began climbing their backs, Tsukiumi relinquished her hold, followed by Musubi, so that Minato could return it two-fold. Now they could feel his hands hugging them close to himself, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh that lay beneath their attire.

Yet with all this affection floating around, there was something else eating at him. Minato couldn't explain how he knew, but there was this unspoken voice telling him that if he turned around, he'd regret it. He'd see something that would bother him all the way through the day, through both meals, through his bath, right up to Kagedansu's morning alarm call.

His head started to rotate around as the romantic trio turned a corner. His eyes slid over, just getting in a peripheral glance and looked at his final Sekirei, who'd been stone-cold silent the entire time. In that one glance, Minato's fears had been confirmed.

Between the scowl, the folded arms, the shuffling along, the staring at the heels of Minato's feet, and black cloud that Minato could practically see hanging over the Sekirei's gray hair, Homura looked absolutely livid.

He wasn't at smoking holes in his garb (thank God), but a good mood he was definitely not in.

Minato was already regretting his decision, his stomach getting all roiled up with caustic bile, preparing to jettison the ballast via his esophagus. He recalled this "bond" that he shared with his Sekirei, what the MBI doctor had said about them giving back to him, like putting water back in the wellspring.

Well, seems Homura was sharing his terrible day, whatever the cause may be. Minato was hoping it wasn't getting into his other Sekirei's thoughts. Musubi he knew he could handle. In fact, it would be kind of fascinating to see what she was like when she got upset; the brunette always on a good day.

On the other hand (quite literally), there was Tsukiumi.

…

Alright, happy thoughts, Minato. He looked down at the blonde naiad, his eyes trying to sift through her golden hair to see her face. But despite his best intentions, his attention ended up wandering down to the deep and ever-so-enticing space that lay between her boobs.

Tsukiumi perked up a little, then shot a half-perturbed, half-curious glare at her husband. Instantly, his vision darted away, going instead to Musubi. She was smiling a little more now that he had eyes on her.

Minato felt a slender finger reach over and guide his chin back to his left. He saw, much to his surprise, and somehow no surprise at all, that Tsukiumi had brushed her hair behind his shoulder.

And as much as he genuinely tried to keep focused on her face, the angle she was leaning was just too good. The way her milky cushion contorted around his bicep was… Well, it warranted a longer examination.

On his right, Musubi had tightened up around his arm, her own mound of softness spreading out. Now he was sensing something else through their bond: hot, immediate, and coming from two places very close. He could guarantee, with one-hundred-percent certainty, that it wasn't anyone's hurry to get home.

He picked that up from somewhere else. Or rather, some-one else.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She stood naked in the bathroom, baring all save for her underwear. Her pink-and-purple star-shirt crumpled up beside her, her capris jeans folded up and placed in her satchel. As she'd done a dozen times before, Uzume raised her hands above her head and reached out with her mind. The white gauze obeyed her command, slithering up her legs and wrapping itself around her bust. Over one tit, then the other, a makeshift bikini to contrast her all-encompassing shirt.

Once again, that little voice asked the same question it always had: "Why?"

Why delay the inevitable? Why bother fighting at all when it wouldn't do any good? Why take a road that wouldn't change her fate?

And just like always, her answer was the same: "Because if I'm going to die anyway, I'm squeezing out every last second I can. For her."

On the sink rested her gloves. She placed her middle fingers into the openings, and with a thought sent them zipping up her arms to the fringe of her deltoids. Her fingers found each of their sleeves, the cloth resting snugly against the webbing of her hands.

Her boots were next, but as she bent down and began to slide her foot inside, she heard a voice.

"You're a fool, Number 10."

She froze, horrified at the sound of it. Like smoke from a fire, high in timbre yet deep in pitch. She'd never heard it before, but knew exactly who it belonged to. As to where it came from…

Slowly, Uzume raised herself up. There, staring back at her in the mirror, was a black shape, mimicking her every move like some damned jester.

Uzume blinked. Where had that come from? She looked back, only to see that her eyes, which had previously been as chestnut-brown as her hair, now glowed a sickly luminous yellow.

And with the sound of shattering glass, her reflection returned to normal. Uzume shook off her fist, a few tiny shards jingling down the sink. Higa could complain about it all he wanted, it's not like he'd kick her to the curb over something so trivial.

The final step, once her boots were on and her skirt had been pulled up over her panties, was for Uzume to pull her shroud over her head, casting a shadow over her face. Like a one-way mirror, the cloth shielded her face from her foes while allowing her to see out into the world.

She took a deep breath, then let it all out, examining herself in the cracked glass. Uzume was gone, The Veiled Sekirei the only one looking back at her.

"The South has a Jinki and only two Sekirei to guard it," Higa's voice echoed in her head. "They're currently north-east of the MBI Tower, their position unchanging but we've no way of knowing for how long. You're to split up, reconvene at South's location and retrieve the Jinki for me."

Split up. In the hopes that no one would suspect them working together. Like Minaka wouldn't already know somehow.

As she left the bathroom, her new partner was waiting for her. He'd clothed himself in a grey hood, a black cloak concealing most of his features. He was a hand shorter than she was, his diminutive size concealing the terrible power he possessed.

"And if either of you are thinking of insurrection, some kind of rescue, even discussing the other's Ashikabi," Higa's bastard voice continued, "remember that my secretary is possessed of a very talented and very thorough Sekirei. One who, among other things, can read lips."

"You ready?" she asked the hooded boy.

He nodded. "Let's go."

She was the first to the window, opening it up and leaping out.

"Remember: you're not doing this for him," said The Veil.

"I know," said The Shroud, his soft, effeminate voice further masking his horrifying abilities. "Never for him."

Uzume couldn't help but think, from the quiet, disconnected tone of his voice, that Shiina didn't know who he was fighting for. There was a difference between who for and who not for.

With that, the two split up. The White Rider and The Grim Reaper: as different as night and day, both old visages of death.

And both on the prowl for the same unsuspecting youth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mutsu laid a hand on his Ashikabi's shoulder.

"Not that it isn't fun to watch you two," he snarked nonchalantly, "but we need to get a move on."

"Why?" asked Taki, looking up past her master's face, both of them flush. "It hasn't been that long."

"It's been an hour," Mutsu stated. "I'm counting from when the match ended."

"Rgh, fine," Mikogami growled, standing to his feet. "We'll continue at the house."

Taki's face lit up and she crushed him to her. "Oooh,thank you, Master!"

"Less fawning, more jumping," said Mutsu, pulling his Ashikabi away from her and slinging the boy under his arm.

"Mutsu!" Taki cried, pointing.

The Earth Sekirei whirled around and leapt forward. His attacker hadn't thought as far ahead as he, so her white veil only snapped at where he'd been, not where he might've moved.

The Veiled Sekirei touched down in front of him, a little puzzled by his choice in maneuver. Her sneak attack having failed, she resorted to a different tact.

"The Jinki," she demanded, holding out an open hand. "Now."

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?!" Mikogami barked, over his shoulder since Mutsu's position left him facing away from her. "I won it; it's mine!"

"You have no right to talk about fair, Mikogami Hayato," said The Veiled One. "You've forced numerous Sekirei to emerge, kidnapping them and winging them against their will."

"No he hasn't!" Taki piped up. "Well, he did take me…"

As Mutsu set down their Ashikabi, she blushed a little, thinking of how else he might "take" her.

"But I kissed him all on my own!" she cried. "Each of us reacted to him the moment we got close!"

The Veiled One huffed. "Doesn't matter," she said, her veils uncoiling around her like the heads of The Hydra. "I'm leaving with that Jinki."

"No," Mutsu said simply, sliding his weapon out from its sash, "you're not."

The Veiled Sekirei flattened her hands, like she was about to do a karate chop. Linen circled around her palms, sprouting from her hands triangular swords of her own.

She took a step forward, tentatively, testing the waters before her. Mutsu mirrored her gesture, his scabbarded sword held like a quarterstaff: one hand on the bottom, the other around the throat, his fingers laced about the tsuba.

Suddenly, the white veil rushed forward, one blade on guard, the other poised to strike. Mutsu unsheathed the sword just enough to block the first, then pivoted and allowed the scorpion's stinger to woosh past him. The Veiled One was thrown back as he tossed her left blade away, thrusting at her with the chape of his scabbard. She, too, pivoted out of the way, but without a brace almost caught Mutsu's attack as he stopped his thrust and snapped his weapon at her. She threw herself back and dodged to the side, rolling back to her feet as he waited for her next move.

She'd seen his power before, when he'd chased after Homura. And Higa had been gracious enough to show her footage of his other abilities, including the one that destabilized the ground.

So why isn't he-

Wait.

Roof.

The same roof his Ashikabi was standing on.

"Taki, get him out of here," spoke Mutsu, his eyes never leaving his foe. Their thoughts ran parallel; Mutsu knew he was at a disadvantage while Hayato was up here.

"Hold on tight, Master!" Taki beamed, then hugged the boy to her generous chest and leapt to an adjacent building.

The Veil was already chasing her, skirting around Mutsu and soaring from the edge to follow. Mutsu wanted to distract her? She wouldn't play ball.

The wake of Mutsu's pursuit reached her ears, compelling the Veiled Sekirei to pivot around mid-air and catch Mutsu in her cloth. The power he channeled through his scabbard shredded her cloth, but a tendril got itself around his waist and flung him to the ground, the Earth Sekirei cratering the asphalt below as nearby civilians scurried away.

The Veil rotated back around in time to touch down on the roof. But in the time she'd spent dodging Mutsu, Taki had released a thick fog to blanket herself and her Ashikabi. As such, The Veiled One's toe caught the ledge but the rest of her foot did not, and as she slipped her hands shot out to catch herself. Precious seconds wasted, she hoisted up to find herself blind, even her Sekirei vision unable to penetrate the mist. She heard footsteps, stealthy ones, and a muffled "Mmph!" from a young, masculine mouth, sounding like it was being smothered. Veils poised to catch herself, she dashed towards the sound, tripping over a section of cooling pipe and crashing down. No time to feel embarrassed, though, she could hear Mutsu closing in from behind her.

Logging Mikogami's muffled gasp in her memory, Uzume changed directions and shuffled right, as quietly as she could, hoping to lose Mutsu. She managed to find a large AC unit, tall enough to hide behind, but cowardice was not her plan. She hopped up and kicked it over, propelling herself off the roof and towards the sound of Mikogami's flight in the arms of Taki.

Her efforts to shake him were in vain, as after a moment, Mutsu simply jumped through the ceiling of the fog, corkscrewing around to survey his surroundings, then touched down and pursued.

Mutsu, surprisingly agile for one of his element, ducked the first slash and let the other one slide off of his sheath. He dropped his hips and went in low, aiming the butt of his sword at The Veiled Sekirei's torso, beginning to draw. If he was trying for battōjutsu, he was too close to get the blade out in time.

Something clicked in her mind, and everything around her slowed to a crawl. She practically dove to her right, but Mutsu merely pivoted on his foot and followed, his blade continuing to emerge from its sheath, the pommel growing closer to her abdomen. It was a hand's breadth away now, and Uzume could feel the aura of power channeling through the handle.

If he could do that with the sheath-

Desperation trumped modesty.

Her crisscross bikini-top slid down and interposed itself between her skin and Mutsu's draw. The pommel struck the iron-hard cloth and shredded it, blowing it to ragged confetti and scattering the scraps around them. His coup de grace had failed but Uzume wasn't out of the woods yet. She leapt back, Mutsu's off-hand sliding back and taking his sheath with it. His swordblade flashed, carving a deep gash across Uzume's stomach, blood pouring forth. Her clothing shielded its mistress, new pieces wrapping around her to salvage her modesty as another strip bandaged her wound.

This was bad. Even with the bandaging she could feel her abdominal muscles whingeing in pain. If she moved around too much, she might tear something. What's more, how could she keep Five from knowing that?

First thing was first, buy herself some time for the wound to close. More fabric wound around her: torso, legs, arms, even her neck and face were covered by it; the ultimate shield, ready to throw itself on the enemy's weapon if its mistress wished it. Mutsu crouched, scabbard in one hand, sword in the other, both reverse-gripped. The Veiled Sekirei was wary of both, but wondered how Five would use his usual attacks with his sword already out. She dismissed it immediately; no doubt he tried to confuse her, make her think he was weaker than he actually was. It's what she would do, if the situation were reversed.

The assassin began to circle right. Mutsu followed, rotating himself and never once allowing the angle between them to change. The two eyed each other warily, the White One more so. Why didn't he attack? She could feel the blood soaking into the fabric; that wound was still sewing itself shut, painting a near-literal bull's eye on her stomach. Even a glancing blow from him could leave her picking her guts off the ground. He was one of the First Five. So what gave?

She then remembered that she was the aggressor here, that she was the one on the clock, the one who came here looking to leave with more than she arrived with. Mutsu didn't have to attack if he didn't want to; all he had to do was stall for time while his Ashikabi called home and ordered reinforcements.

She rushed in, the fabric on her arms already uncoiling. The hands that held sword and sheath closed the distance, the pommel hovered a mere centimeter above the throat. One, two, three, her feet touched off the stones as she build up speed, already guessing his attack. Right on cue, the pommel came down like a hammer on to an anvil, a tiny dink! barelyaudible. The two points of contact made, the sheathe began to dip towards the ground, already powering up for a strike.

The Veil should've known better to think Mutsu a predictable foe.

The sheath avoided the ground by a hair, swinging up like a pendulum to catch its white-clad prey from beneath. The Veiled Sekirei almost didn't make it in time, as Mutsu's pommel on the scabbard let him steer its ascent towards the bright red target painted on her torso. It tore through the reserves that darted out from her gloves, not even slowing it down as it approached its mark. The Veil saw Chiho's face flash before her eyes, just as her gambit took effect.

Two other coils from her arms reached Mutsu's wrists and pried his hands apart. Or rather, more precisely, they slipped between hilt and throat to buffer the circuit. Her arms immediately fell asleep from the influx of foreign energy flowing into them, but she bit through the pain and forced his hands apart, breaking the flow of his power and rendering his sheath a harmless piece of wood. A hard blow to the stomach she could take, even as she felt her wound reopen; hardly fatal.

Right away, Mutsu began exerting his strength. The Veil got a first-hand impression of why he was The Earth Sekirei: he was just as unstoppable the tectonics plates when he wanted to be.

His hands began to approach one another, and more veils from her legs only slowed the process. His arms shook and his face began to turn red, a leviathan with two limbs versus a far weaker kraken with ten. Slowly, but surely, his weapons began to come together. It was just a matter of time, time also for Mikogami's other Sekirei to come.

That was when her partner made himself known.

The Shroud hoisted himself up on the roof, his younger, less-developed legs not quite at the same physical level as theirs. He tugged the black hood over himself, ensuring his own identity remained as much a mystery as could be helped. With Mutsu immobilized as he was, The Shrouded Sekirei saw no reason to not march up to him and go straight for his crest.

This proved to be a mistake. Even under such pressure, Mutsu's senses were as sharp as ever. Previously attempting to bring his weapons together, The Earth Sekirei now allowed them to fly apart, aided by the outward-movement of the Veiled One's efforts. He leaned forward and twisted himself around, showing his chest to his new foe and guiding the tip of his sword into the boy's reaching hand. His scream of agony and shock quickly found the spinal column of both older Sekirei. They knew that sound: this one had never felt the pain of battle before, nor a wound so vicious.

And in that moment, The Veiled One's concentration lapsed, spurred by her own surprise at Mutsu's maneuver. He twirled his sword around in his fingers and expertly slashed another of his shackles. It wasn't a clean slice, but enough to allow Mutsu to literally tear his hands free, the constricting bindings still clinging to his wrists. Two tendrils gone, the other three were easy pickings for one of his strength. He double-checked his six, and good thing, too, as the Shroud had gathered himself together surprisingly quickly.

Taki was on it, the heel of her shoot kicking The Shroud in the ribs and showing off her lovely legs to her master, along with her surprising flexibility. Mikogami was safely deposited on the corner, leaning against an air vent as he watched the battle unfold. Taki's show didn't last, much as she wished it would, as mist pooled around her and took The Mist Sekirei and The Shroud out of view.

Mutsu had by now freed himself, dual-wielding his sheath as if it were another sword, slapping away each new white stinger that his sword couldn't reach or that his body couldn't avoid. He was walking forward, side-stepping and dipping down as he calmly weathered this storm of death. The Veiled Sekirei soon found her heels against the edge, and that is when Mutsu struck.

His blade ceased its drunken parrying and zoomed forward, The Veil guiding it aside to saw open her leg rather than go clean through. Mutsu's effort cost him as three tendrils now had a moment to lash out, one to grip his arm and the other two to puncture it. He surprisingly leaned forward and allowed the stingers to piece his side, his forward momentum steering them to burst from his flesh mere inches from where they entered. He could feel blood beginning to pool in his lung, but it was light, and his precious sword-arm remained unharmed. It hurt to move its upper half, but one forearm was all he needed to slice through these latest tendrils and leave his sheath free to jab her off the roof.

The veils quickly aided their mistress, shooting out to latch on to a nearby fire escape and allowing her to Tarzan-swing her way to the wall. Her freshly-wounded leg screamed at her to ease off, which she did, but had to relocate as Mutsu hopped down and promptly severed the white cords that held her up.

Returning to the roof, her one good leg enough to get the job done, The Veil made a beline for Mikogami, her form faltering as the multiple gashes and blood loss began to weaken her. Mutsu was faster, his blade spearing her in the ribs exactly as she'd done to him, The Veiled One crying out as her counterpart had done.

Gathering her remaining will, she slashed at Mutsu with bladed hands. To a human, her movements were fast as the wind, but to a Sekirei, especially Mutsu, she was like a cripple, clumsily swinging his crutch. The Earth Sekirei's weapons met and touched off each blade. One, two, they poofed into clouds of shredded white, daintily falling to the ground as their owner hastily fell back.

Uzume found herself at a crossroads. No, more like a rock and a hard place: Mutsu or Higa. To retreat now might cost her Chiho, but to stay and fight would be the death of her. There was no way out.

Maybe if Shiina could finish off Taki, they could double-team Mutsu, this time with a better plan. Her boon was granted as Shiina's powers found their mark and a high-pitched wail echoed through the air, the deathly energies ravaging Taki's body. The fog around them began to disperse, and she was revealed, her skin pale, sunken and dried out, her hair having turned from silver to white near the base of her skull, the Mist Sekirei struggling weakly as she lay prone on the concrete. The Shrouded One looked her over, his head drooping a little as he mutter a quiet apology for the bond he was about to decimate.

For the first time since they began, Mutsu's face shifted to something new. His eyes widened, the middle of his brow furrowed, and his attention momentarily left his opponent. The Veiled Sekirei chose that moment to attack, but her limbs were heavy and her swings lacked swiftness, easy for Mutsu to sway away from.

"Over here, Five," The Veil huffed, spitting a few drops of blood from her mouth. "We're not done yet."

"Do you have a death wish?" Mutsu asked. He nodded to her. "Look at yourself. You're in no condition to keep fighting."

"For my Ashikabi," said Uzume, her eyes beginning to tear up a little beneath her veil, "I'll fight to the end."

Except this wasn't for Chiho. And no matter how hard Uzume tried to convince herself, she knew the only person who would gain from this was her beloved Chiho's jailor.

As Shinna reached for the back of Taki's dress, all three combatants heard her whimpering moans. Taki had gone blind, her newly aged eyes no longer as sharp as they'd been in her youth, everything around her a blur, her hearing a mess of ringing noises, her dead skin unable to feel. She was alone, cast adrift by this death god's power into a world that she could no longer perceive.

"Master…" she sobbed weakly.

Through her leathery flesh, she felt fingers grasp the back of her collar and pull it down.

"Someone…"

Something pressed itself against her crest.

"Anyone…"

Right when The Death God was about to speak, Taki felt that same something scratch her back, leaving a dull stinging sensation. Weakly, she pushed herself over, her pale eyes making out the powder-blue shape of someone fighting The Death God, someone keeping them at bay with a long, black weapon. The black blur fought the blue blur as the blue one's weapon crumbled to dust up to halfway down its length, before the blue blur shot forward and beat the black one back.

Uzume's breath almost exploded from her mouth; it took all of her will to keep her relief internal. Oh thank God, they're here.

Uzume retracted her Veils as Shiina rallied to her side. The bo staff-wielder that had stopped his termination of Taki had also clocked him in the jaw for good measure, while three more Sekirei touched down in front of Taki. None of them she recognized, but she saw the Ice Sekirei, Akitsu, land in front of her Master, the air already growing cold.

Three, four, six Sekirei confronted them. No help was coming, because Higa had nothing to do with this. This was just two anonymous Sekirei, forming an alliance to illegally get ahead in the game. But against these odds, and in the shape they were in, the only place left to go was back.

And they did.

Mikogami was beside himself, walking over to where Taki's mummified body lay, her mouth open and gasping as her mind struggled to adjust to the husk her body had become. Her eyes opened she felt a hand reach down to feel the loose, wrinkled skin on her face, her master's hand gently clasping the boney claws that had once been her fingers. Something wet fell upon her cheek, though her vision was still reeling from the shock

He pointed a quivering finger at the retreating pair. "Akitsu, Juusa. I can still see the two who did this."

"Master?" Nanami asked, her brow furrowing with concern and her honey-colored hair swaying aside as she tilted her head.

"I don't want to."

Nanami and Juusa clutched their weapons a little tighter as they felt something through their bond: raw, sore, red-hot and unrelenting. Mutsu felt it, too.

"Right," Juusa grimly acknowledged, Akitsu silently moving to follow her as-

" _ **Hayato!**_ "

Everyone, even the normally immovable Akitsu stopped. They had never heard Mutsu raise his voice before, and never dreamed he'd do it to their master. Even Mikogami was completely blown away, doubly so from how nonchalant and not-at-all-upset Mutsu looked. His default expression of "Here" was on full display, offering no hint of his outburst.

"Remember what we talked about," he said softly.

Mikogami was still in shock. "Wh… Wha-"

"Think about it: where would they be running to?"

The boy looked at the roof which he stood upon, now given a second dilemma to mull over. But thankfully, this one was not so impossible to decipher, and the Ashikabi of the South was nothing if not sharp.

"Ambush", he said.

"They don't need to," he said. "Look where they're headed."

Mikogami noted the shrinking silhouettes, then looked around until he found the sun. "East."

"Yeah," said Mutsu. "And Higa's got plenty of Sekirei to call if he finds unwelcome visitors on his turf.

"But what about those two?" Juusa asked, pointing to where the attackers had fled.

Mutsu looked, but Akitsu was the first to speak up.

"They'll be terminated," said the Ice Sekirei, "or they'll escape."

"Or they're working for him," said Mikogami, finally regaining his composure. "Keep an eye out. If we spot them again, we'll know."

"Of course, Master," said Akitsu, bowing her head. "Please allow me to carry you home."

"Akitsu," said Mikogami, before Juusa, Nanami or Himeko could protest. He wasn't looking at any of them, though. "Take Taki to the MBI hospital, then come straight home. No detours."

Akitsu blinked, her expression as unreadable as ever, as her eyes moved from Taki to her master and back again. Solemnly, she nodded, walking over to where Taki lay, struggling to get up.

"Please," she croaked, her voice having caught up to her age. "Master…"

Closing his eyes, Mikogami knelt down and gently kissed her, his youthful lips scraping against the rough leather of Taki's. Weakly, her silver wings spilled over the concrete roof, and her skin refreshed itself, going from that of a woman of 80 to one of maybe 60, still a far cry from the young, spritely girl she'd been mere minutes ago.

Tenderly, Akitsu knelt down and picked up her sister Sekirei. Cradling Taki in her arms, The Disused Number made for the nearby MBI Hospital as quickly as she could, each and every touch-down as gentle as she could make it. She hugged Taki to her bosom, knowing that she'd be just as caring if the situation were reversed.

Even though, deep down, Akitsu knew she wasn't worth as much. Not in her discarded state, and not after she'd left Mitsuha to The Hound.

Back on the roof, Mikogami found himself surrounded on all sides by women, all of them nervously pining for the privilege of carrying him home. The discussion was brought to a close when a long arm reached in and hoisted the lad out from the middle of it, Mutsu tucking his Ashikabi under his arm and taking off, knowing the girls would be hot on his tail.

And they were, silent as the grave itself.


	51. Something's Watching You

**Author's comment:**

To the guest review of Jan. 5, 2017:

First of all, thanks for the feedback. In regards to your request, I got a chance to talk it over with some other Sekirei enthusiasts online, but unfortunately I don't think there will be much room for Uzume and Minato's relationship to develop in upcoming chapters. A certain... _event_ is taking place soon, and while I agree with some that perhaps the Uzume/Kagedansu subplot has drifted away from the main story, I've left myself little room to steer it back on course. On the other hand, I literally just came up with some more stuff for Uzume and Team Izumo in the midst of re-typing this comment AGAIN, so thanks for that.

Regardless, I took time to add a moment or two between Uzume and Minato earlier (Chapter 23, I think, somewhere around the Bridge Escape). Probably not what you were hoping for, I'll admit, but I'll give them some more scenes in the next chapter. After all, Chapter 52's going to be another Uzume-centric chapter, so why not?

* * *

 **Chapter 51: Something's Watching You**

As Minato and the others neared the gate, none of them noticed a pair of eyes, peering over the top of the roof, watching them, waiting to _pounce_.

"Uh, guys?" said the lad. "We're home."

Musubi's eyes darted around as she opened her eyelids. "Aaaw, already…?" She disentangled herself from Minato's limb, Tsukiumi doing the same once Musubi had broken contact.

"Now then," Tsukiumi said, strutting up to the door, "I think a hot bath would pair well with our long walk. What say thee, Musubi?"

"I'd say you said it!" Musubi chirped. "I also say I'd be happy to wash your back."

"Thank thee, though take heed: I'll not have thy fervor peel my skin."

Minato only got a few steps forward before the lurker sprung their trap.

 _Fwhump!_

His two Sekirei whirled around.

"What the- Mm!" Minato's flabbergasted state was cured by a kiss, his "attacker" straddling him and framing his face with her hands.

" _Kazehana!_ _Thou couldst at least allow him inside!_ " Tsukiumi barked.

Kazehana broke from her kiss as her wings wound down, a glimmer of lust entering her eye. "Now there's a thought," she smirked, shifting her weight further to her pelvis. "I've missed you, Mina-kun."

"Big brotheerrr!" Minato's eyes followed Ku as best they could as she floated down to the gate, clutching a giant leaf like an umbrella/parachute. She disappeared behind his brow as she touched down, re-entering his vision and surprising him with a gentle kiss of her own.

Minato's body seized up and he did his absolute best not to gag; Ku wouldn't like that. Then again, she was far too young for him to be liking _this._

"Alright, give him some air, Ku," Kazehana gently urged. The Green Girl obeyed, parting from her big brother and future husband. Minato quickly sat up before anyone else could take his face hostage, pushing Kazehana off of him and scrambling to his feet.

"Aww, didn't you like me?" Kazehana bemoaned, still lying on the walk. Minato rattled off a string of gibberish, stumbling past his other two Sekirei as Homura silently followed him inside.

Only to run smack into a chest-high, hand-shaped slab of meat.

"Then eat up and get changed," said Kagedansu, coming out from behind the staircase. "You smell too clean for my liking."

"Kagedansu," Minato moaned, "I just spent two hours walking here. I'm really not up to this right now."

"Good," said Sixty-Seven. "Means we can skip the warm-up."

"But-"

"Listen, you," Kagedansu said, lifting Minato up by the back of his shirt. "You get your gym clothes on or we'll do all of today's exercises tomorrow plus tomorrow's routine."

The Sekirei's face was now below him and yet Minato felt very small in comparison. The next instant he plunked to the ground, free from the Kagedansu's grip. With that, The Shadow Sekirei passed him and entered the kitchen, leaving Minato to wonder if he should complain or not.

As he passed down the hall, and Tsukiumi, The Water Sekirei got a hold on his arm.

"Much as I loathe thy discomfort," she said, "he speaketh true. Battle comes as battle pleases, and cares not for thy mood, husband. Thou wouldst do well to train in less-than-ideal temperament."

Minato sighed. "Yeah I know. But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

Tsukiumi smiled, somewhat fiercely, as wife but also warrior. "Stand fast, Minato, for rest assured thy efforts maketh their own rewards come the end."

"Thanks, I guess." He went to move away but found himself trapped.

"Uh, Tsukiumi? My exercise?" he asked, tugging his limb.

"The price of my wifely advice," she said, "be a kiss." Her finger trailed beneath his chin to guide it towards her face. Their lips met and Tsukiumi's grip only tightened as her arms circled her husband's body, her half-exposed breasts spreading themselves as they pressed against him. After the blue light faded from the hall, he left Tsukiumi to her oncoming bath, only to bump into Kazehana at the top of the stairs.

" _I_ could've given you some exercise," Kazehana cooed, breaking from her sake bottle to undress him with her eyes.

"Yeah," Minato said, "but not on the front walk."

Her ruby lips curled into a smirk. "Why, Mina-kun, where's your sense of adventure?"

"About five kilometers back at the concrete plant," he said, turning to move past her into his room.

Two silken arms flung themselves around his neck and a soft, pillowy pair of heavenly delights pressed themselves to his back.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I missed you," she murmured, a hint of desperation in her voice. One of her hands wound its way down to his crotch, getting a feel for him. "I have needs, you know."

He sighed. "You're all the same…"

"We're women, Mina-kun," she whispered mournfully, a tone he hadn't heard since their first date. "And sometimes it feels like our man doesn't want us back."

Minato's head lifted from its slouch, and being this close, Kazehana felt something through their bond. Some kind of spark, though of what, she didn't know.

"You're right…" he muttered.

"Of course I'm right," she teased. She was then thrown off as he unclasped her arms, spun around, and went straight for her mouth. He pushed his lips to hers so hard that his tongue met no resistance as it plunged in.

 _So_ _ **manly**_ _…_ His forwardness was causing her to melt in his arms; she _loved_ this, and had just enough sense left to steer their make-out session against the wall before they went tumbling down the stairs. But it was Kazehana who found herself the ship and Minato at the helm. This was _his_ ride, with _his_ woman, and Kazehana felt like he was trying to squeeze something out of her with how hard he was kissing, how hard his hands were groping her voluptuous legs, how tight she felt being pressed against the wall as her feet left the floor to hug his hips with her knees.

It was then, being crushed in the lustful embrace of her Ashikabi, that Kazehana found her one and only reason to wear panties out of bed.

 _Sploosh._

That small sound made Minato break from his outburst of dominance and look down to where his Sekirei had started grinding her crotch against him.

"Kazehana, did you just…" He looked back up and Kazehana pulled him back to her, uttering a breathy, "Yes" from the corner of her mouth as they reconnected.

A chill settled on them both, and Kazehana opened one eye to stare into the face of a demon.

"Now _what_ is that smell, Kazehana?" it said, the smile on its face contrasting the smile of its hovering mask. "It wouldn't be something indecent, would it?"

Kazehana broke from Minato's lips and touched her feet back down to Earth. " **I'llgochange** ," she uttered, hurriedly shuffling out from between the wall and her man. "Sorry, Minato."

The former ronin turned, steeling himself, but found no hanyo waiting for him. Instead, there stood only Miya, shaking her head.

"Some would try to overstep the bounds of my lovely inn," she sighed, then looked at her anatomically male tenant. "Please don't let yourself be carried away by her, Minato. I would hate to throw out such a polite tenant."

Minato nodded, and with a bow said, "I will, Miya-sama."

This earned him a more honest smile from his landlady before she went back downstairs. Kazehana returned from hers and Musubi's room smelling fresh and clean, hands behind her head, bust bouncing slightly as she walked.

"Thanks, Kazehana," he said.

She stopped to lift her arms over her head and loop them over Minato's, giving him a smooch on the cheek as a caring smile graced her lips. "Anything for you, Mina-kun."

Something about that phrase got him all warm and fuzzy inside. Kind of like his next Sekirei, finding her once dressed in gym clothes and on his way around the steps.

"Going to train, Minato?" Musubi chirped.

"Yeah. Sigh…"

Her expression dimmed. "You're not excited?"

He turned to face her, her brown eyes gazing into his own. "I've been doing this for almost a week now! _A week_ , Musubi! You know how long that is?"

She cocked her cranium, the wheels in her head turning. "Seven days?"

"Yes."

"I knew it!" she cried happily, throwing her arms around him.

"No, that's- Urgh, never mind," he said, returning her hug. No matter how crazy the Sekirei Plan got, he'd always have the consolation of getting to hold soft, pretty girls. Standing in the hall, at the top of the stairs, it wasn't long before a long, reverent sigh echoed from the bottom. Minato opened his eyes to see Kazehana swooning up at him, shaking her head and holding her hands to her cheeks.

Not that he was embarrassed, but he recalled that his personal slave dri- _instructor_ wanted him out in the backyard. And Musubi was still clinging to him, purring like a kitten.

"Uh, Musubi?"

"Hhmm?"

"Training?"

"What about it?"

"I need to."

"Oh! Right." She pulled her head from his chest and leaned up to kiss him on the lips, hugging him tighter as she felt that familiar warmth bloom from within her. When her pink wings faded, she released him. "Have fun!"

Like a well-planned ambush, Minato was on her right as her guard was lowered. Musubi didn't know what got into him, but suddenly she was up against the wall and her wings were flaring a second time. Her eyes widened and then dimmed as Minato started touching her, grabbing her sensitive chest and squeezing it with one hand while holding her firm tushy with the other. Invisible chains kept Musubi's wrists against the wall while Minato explored her, both of them fully clothed. She had no clue what was going on, with herself or with him, but something inside her began emerging from its cocoon.

As a blush began to appear on her face, Minato released her. "I will. Thanks, Musubi."

Musubi sighed, staring off into space; her arms were already reaching for him again.

It was then he realized, by his count, that they were one short.

"Say, where's Matsu?"

Eighty-Eight was jolted from her reverie, suspiciously quick. "She, uh…" Musubi pressed her fingers together and looked away. "I promised I wouldn't tell…"

"Tell what?" he asked, a little antsier. "What?"

Kazehana appeared on the stairs. "Sigh, and he was in such a good mood, too…"

"Kazehana," Minato said, a note of panic entering his voice, " _where is she?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kazehana, hello?" Matsu tapped her earpiece. Ha! As if her tech could malfunction, though her rubber racing suit was beginning to stick to her. "Where'd you go?"

" _MATSU!"_

The Sekirei winced, almost dropping her satchel as an angry, deeply worried voice pierced her eardrum.

"Mi-Minato," she stuttered, like a child caught next to a broken vase. "You're home."

" _And you're outside! Are you nuts?!"_

"Maybe. I intercepted a call from Mikogami, where he mentioned an unknown fighter at the match. No one else saw him: stuck to the shadows, silent movements, and he got one of the South's Sekirei terminated by Karasuba."

Matsu paused and did another Network Uplink. Sifting through the mass of data and networks with her mind… Nope, they were still down.

" _Matsu, are you still there? What happened?"_

"Nothing," she assured. "Just making sure the satellites are still down."

" _And what if they're not?!"_

" _She has a ride, Minato._ " Kazehana's alto reassured him. Matsu's mind's-eye pictured her teammate leaning on his back, probably getting touchy-feely with him. Oh, if only they were out here, where there was no Miya-

Matsu shook her head, entering the ruined complex that matched Mikogami's description: standalone, three floors, small basement, boarded-up windows. The blueprints were already materializing in her mind via a psychic internet browser. "So, how did the match go?"

" _Bad_ ," Minato sighed. " _We couldn't even get_ one _Jinki."_

" _Aww, poor Mina-kun,"_ Kazehana's voice cooed. _"How about a little kiss to make you feel better?"_

"Hey, none of that in _my_ room," Matsu scolded, pulling a small flashlight out from her cleavage. "At least, not until I get back."

" _And then what, hmm?"_

"Ku ku ku, hey Mina-tan, feeling excited _?_ " Matsu snickered, sweeping the hallway floor. This place wasn't much but with the right mood and enough time, she and Kazehana could seduce anyone.

" _I think I left it back there,_ " Minato said on the other end, his tone dry as the Sahara. " _If you're there long enough, you might find it._ "

" _Oh, I beg to differ._ " Kazehana giggled. " _You naughty boy."_

"What?" Matsu halted her search to fully address her conversation partners. "What did he do?"

" _Oh, nothing,_ " Kazehana sighed wistfully. Matsu's Pervert-Sense told her that "nothing" meant "a lot".

" _Matsu?"_

"Yeah, I'm here, Musubi." Right. Still searching.

" _What's all this? Slacking off on training, Minato?"_

" _Hey! Kagedan…"_

Matsu waited for a while, her Ashikabi having left the line.

"Did he see the inside of my room?"

" _What do you think?"_ Kazehana sighed.

Matsu sighed back. "I can dream, can't I?"

" _What concern is it of thine?"_ Second question: was Matsu's room just the new lounge area now? " _Kagedansu is hardly a match for us._ "

" _But he still got you, Miss Panty-Flash."_

" _I'll say!"_

" _Silence, thou chatterbox! And as for_ thee _, need thou recall of how he sent thee plunging from our rooftop battle with the East?_ "

Kazehana chuckled. " _You got me there."_

" _I'll say!"_

"Wait! Tsukiumi, Musubi! Hold on!"

There was a pause. " _What is it, Matsu?_ "

"Did you guys have a run-in with-" _Hold up. If you say his name they might rush down here and try to find him._ "-anyone peculiar during the first match?"

" _Peculiar?"_ And right now Musubi's finger would be on her chin, and Matsu wasn't having any luck with-

Wait! What was this?

Matsu got down on her knees and examined her find more closely: a discarded piece of fabric and bedding foam, cut into the rudimentary shape of a shoe, or at least the bottom of one. Some adhesive was left on the cloth; from the feel of it, the footprint of either gorilla or duct tape.

 _Meaning whoever wore this on their feet would make a lot less noise if they had to run._

" _Matsu, explain thyself."_

"You know," she said as she placed the find in a zip-lock bag, "weird? Uncommon? Someone you didn't expect to see here?"

" _I think I saw Karasuba-sama at one point."_

"Okay, anyone else?" Matsu placed the bag in her satchel, hoping No. 4 hadn't stuck around.

" _I happened upon Hametsu whilest traversing yonder concrete plant."_

" _ **Tell me where!**_ " Matsu squalled.

There was silence for a moment. " _I'll ignore thine impertinence. 'Twas within the office building I encountered him."_

"Impertinent, me?" Matsu gritted her teeth. "Listen blondie, I'm older, I outrank you, and I'm out here chasing ghosts while you guys sit around inside. Show a little appreciation sometimes."

" _Aye,_ ' _tis a most fitting reversal, wouldst thou not agree?"_

Matsu paused in her race for the door. Her brain processed Tsukiumi's meaning and compelled her to take a moment and bang her head against the drywall.

 _I walked_ _ **right**_ _into that one_ , she thought.

" _What was that?"_

"That, Musubi, is what frustration sounds like."

" _Ha!_ _Thou couldst use another_."

"Later," said Matsu.

She made her way, following Musubi and Tsukiumi's (mostly Tsukiumi's) recollection to the best of her abilities. She eventually found herself in a hallway with no ceiling, jagged pieces of rubble strewn about and a human-sized gap in the debris field.

"I think I found it," she said, pulling a device from her pouch.

" _What are you looking for exactly? While I look for my drink…_ "

"Anything," Matsu replied.

" _What kind of anything?"_

"The suspicious kind," Matsu said. "Like this."

Poking around the debris, Matsu's device, an ion mobility spectrometer, was picking up trace elements of ionized particles. A promising start, but what made it especially juicy was the small bit of wiring she found near the center of the debris field. It was tangled among a mess of other wires, but what made it stand out was that try as she might, she couldn't find any particular mess this little outcast belonged with.

"Tsukiumi, you say he snapped his fingers to set it off?"

" _I did, yes."_

"Where was his other hand?"

There was silence for a moment. " _I believe he kept it sequestered in his pocket_."

 _In his pocket,_ thought Matsu. _Same place he could hide a switch. And the sound of the fingers snapping…_

Perhaps Hametsu was keen on hiding more than just his identity. His stolen knowledge would clue him in to how precisely sensitive a Sekirei's ears were, and the click of a switch or button might just appear on a Sekirei's sonar.

So far, so good.

And lucky for Matsu, she managed to catch the satellites just as they were in the middle of booting up. Not even bothering with the stairs, the Wisdom Sekirei hopped through the hole above and slide down a rain spout. Rather, she tried to, but about halfway down the rusted screws gave and if not for her weaker but still very Sekirei legs, she would've had to _drag_ herself to her bike.

But her modicum of strength prevailed, and Matsu climbed aboard with her findings. One bike ride through the city and she'd be home free.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The outskirts were no problem. The main highway only saw a few whistles bother her from amorous drivers.

But when she got off and re-entered the crisscross of streets, it was there that Matsu's luck ran out.

"You thought you could sneak by us, Number 2?" Benitsubasa sneered. Matsu didn't say anything; already her powers were tapping into MBI's laser satellite. Hopefully, her helmet and glasses would keep her eyes obscured.

The Red Sekirei thrust a finger at her. "That's insulting. We're the Discipline Squad; you should _know_ the kind of resources we have at our disposal. You really think we wouldn't spot you?"

The orbiting machine was powering up. If she'd just keep talking for a few more seconds…

"Well, end of the line, Two," said Benitsubasa as she pumped her fists. "Time to pay the piper."

Matsu was many things: intelligent, cunning, sneaky, and sexy-as-hell. But battle-savvy? Even in her early days, she'd never been a fighter.

As such, when her mental command came with a small start, Haihane was already in motion. Her claws extended, The Blue Sekirei took careful heed not to cut her partner. So, annoying as it must have been for Red, Blue hooked Red's skull with her palm after sliding behind her, dashing forward just in time to avoid the red beam of death from the sky.

"Shit," was all Matsu said. With the sound of screeching tires, The Wisdom Sekirei was already making her escape.

"That _bitch!_ " snarled Benitsubasa, leaping after her.

"You would've seen it if you weren't compensating all the time," Haihane remarked, soaring alongside her.

"What are you talking about?!"

Haihane merely grinned and tapped on of her breasts with her knuckle. Red caught her meaning right away and took a swipe at her.

"SHUT UP, HAIHANE!"

"Heh, you're mad because it's true."

"I SAID _SHUT UP!_ "

Upon landing, Red's next swing was another miss, Haihane jumping both away from her and after their prey. In hindsight, she might've pushed that button too soon.

Matsu, meanwhile, halted under the highway and turned around, speeding back on course. She'd customized this bike herself, modifying the exhaust pipes to quiet it down. It was actually the same principle behind a suppressor on a gun: lengthen the route and give the gasses more time to decompress, thus making less noise when they exited. And since Matsu had meticulously crafted the exhaust on her bike to essentially be one long muffler, by the time the gas reached the mouth it was practically at atmospheric pressure, silent as the air itself.

Which all counted for nothing as some idiot ran a red light and leaned on his horn when she rode out in front of him.

The redhead looked back and- Yup, there they were, hot on her trail.

"Rrgh, stupid people and their dumb driving!" she angrily shouted, revving up the engine and speeding down the street.

Haihane and Benitsubasa had the advantage here, unrestricted by the traffic and hopping from car to car, lamppost to lamppost as they closed in on her. Coming up was a red light and two lines of cars, only enough space between them for her to juuust fit.

"End of the line!" Haihana shouted in glee, landing in the back of a convertible with her claw held out.

Matsu may have been a bad fighter, but this bike was tech, and instinct was on her side. Leaning back, she popped a wheelie just as she reached Haihane, her hand too low and the space too narrow for Matsu to duck. So instead Haihane became the first person in Tokyo to be hit with the front wheel of a bike on just her wrist. The Blue Sekirei spun around rather than let her joints be broken or dislocated, and Matsu sped on.

She swerved through a gap in the cross-traffic and power-slid beneath a large semi-trailer, the flow of vehicles becoming a series of mechanisms in a giant machine around her. She saw everything: the speed of the parts, the motion of the gaps, the height and. This was no Sekirei power at play, this was Matsu's natural brain at work deciphering the code before her: the code of the streets, as dictated by the cars and trucks.

She'd see The Red Sekirei in her mirrors, jumping to her left and would swerve right, pulling between two cars.

She'd see The Blue Sekirei land on an adjacent vehicle and hit the brakes, letting it zoom on before cutting a corner on to another intersection.

She'd see both of them leap onto opposite corners of a four-way intersection and speed on ahead, giving herself enough space to pull a spin beneath the light and send them both leaping one way or the other. No matter how they went, she'd always stop her spin facing whichever way they hadn't gone; the second time, going on when they tried just jumping her at the middle.

 _You guys think you can take me?_ _I was on the_ First _Discipline Squad, you rookies, and you caught me in my_ second _element._

Halfway there, maybe more. Frankly, Matsu was way too on top of things to give a damn about math.

"PULVERIZING…"

 _Are they nuts?! There's people all around!_

" _RIFLE!"_

The engine beneath her exploded and Matsu's perfectly-sculpted posterior was cooked medium-rare as she was thrown from the wreckage that used to be her bike. Lying on her side like this, she didn't feel anything broken.

As Benitsubasa landed in front of her, Matsu knew it was small compensation.

"Like it?" sneered The Red Sekirei, cranking her right arm around. "After that warehouse fiasco that blonde bimbo made me realize that cannons can get way out of hand."

Her left hand fell from her shoulder and grasped her right hand, two fingers extended like a child faking a gun.

"You thought you were safe around people, Two?" she asked, pink energy charging at her finger tips. "You thought wrong."

Haihane once again moved, this time carrying her partner back as a fireball crashed down where she'd been. Matsu was greeted by the sight of her black-masked savior offering her a hand.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking, Matsu?!" Homura snapped, his female voice probably sounding more authoritative in his head.

"You guys don't know forensics, or how to use gear, or how to retrieve evidence," said Matsu, dusting herself off. "And thanks, by the way."

"You're welcome," Homura muttered angrily, turning to face the Discipline Squad. "What was your plan if I hadn't shown up?"

"Can we talk about this later?"

"On the way back," said The Fire Sekirei. Matsu found herself slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and in a moment he'd taken to the skies.

"Oh no you _don't!"_

Homura's flight was cut short as he was jerked out of the air. Benitsubasa had the shoulderstrap of Matsu's bag in her first and whipped the two of them down to the street like a rock from a sling.

Homura crashed first, his tougher female body taking the concrete and shielding Matsu from impact. Well, _most_ of it.

"Ooowww… This is why I don't get out much," Matsu whined, sitting up. "Thanks again."

"G- _hardian_ … Sekirei," Homura coughed, trying to find some reason to keep his good mood. "Remember?"

" _I_ remember," said Haihane. Homura bolted up as her claws speared into the concrete, sinking through it like chocolate cake. "Number 104, Haihane."

"Number-" Homura stopped himself. One-on-one would leave Matsu with her own opponent, as per the rules of the game. "Not today, Blue."

"Oh well, you're loss," said the reaper, diving at Homura's throat _anyway_. A wall of fire warded her off while Matsu finally failed her negotiation with Benitsubasa.

"You want this bag, Two?" said The Red Sekirei, holding up Matsu's prize. "Come get it."

"Don't-" Homura interjected, pulling Matsu to his side once again, "-even think about it."

"No, wait! My stuff!" Matsu wailed as Homura carried her off again. The two Squad members watched them go, knowing that at equal speeds Six would make it to the Inn before them, and that was the one place even their Captain hesitated to venture. So the most they had to show for it was a bag, which they emptied out on the spot. Oncoming cars slowed and oozed around them, no driver daring to honk. They all knew who those two were, and the ones that didn't took the hint from the spider's-web of fractured asphalt the two stood on, and how it got wider when the pink-haired one stamped her foot.

" _JUNK!_ Useless, good-for-nothing _junk!_ " said Benitsubasa.

"What exactly were you expecting?" asked her partner. "Stolen diamonds?"

"I was _thinking_ ," snarled Red, "that she might have the Jinki in here. Why else would she want it back from me? _Me!"_

Benitsubasa pushed Haihane away, almost into an oncoming car, as she cupped her hands together.

"Here's what I think of your driving, Two. PULVERIZING CANNON!"

An explosion of light and the web of cracks became a sizzling crater, Matsu's findings reduced to charred air.

"Let's go, Blue," Red rumbled angrily.


	52. Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide

**Author's soliloquy:**

Two Saturdays ago, at 1:26 PM local time, a legend left us. I know that seems to be a common thing these days, but this was someone different. You might not know his name, you may not even know his works, but believe me, you've felt the ripples of his influence. I don't think there's a single person on Earth who he hasn't somehow reached, directly or otherwise. He was just THAT big, THAT legendary.

And I know for a fact that each and every one of you can draw a line to him. Why? Because you're reading this fic. This story can trace its roots all the way back to him. The Iron Maiden scenes and the Beatles references, the line of domino effects that caused me to write this fic this way, with these characters, all lead back to one man.

Elvis may have been the King, and many sons and many more holy ghosts will surely follow. But there is, and will only ever be, one Father.

I miss you already, Chuck. But long as we got a dime, the music will never stop.

* * *

 **Chapter 52: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide**

The moon was glowing tonight; the clouds had parted to allow soft rays of white to illuminate the city.

It was movie night, and for a little variation Uzume decided to bring an import.

Chiho loved a good fantasy flick, be it a local production or one from out west, where knights and kings replaced daimyo and samurai (though not in that order).

And dragons. Both had dragons.

This one, though, not yet. Not before the old man boomed,

" _Enough! I am Gandalf! And Gandalf means…_ me!"

The short, curly-haired man stared in awe and fear, as in the background, a troop of deep voices began to sing.

" _Far o'er-on-mis-ty-moun-tains-cooooold…"_

"' _Gandalf'?"_ uttered the man, as it dawned on him just who had arrived on his doorstep. " _Not the Wandering Wizard!_ "

" _The same,"_ the sorcerer replied.

Still the voices continued. " _To dun-geons-deep-and-ca-verns-oooooold…"_

"Ooo, I like this," Chiho said, hugging Uzume closer. The Sekirei sat next to her in the hospital bed, in the dark with the door shut. While the Ashikabi remained in her usual gown, Uzume's capris were flopped over a chair, the dignity of her bare legs protected by the blanket.

On the screen across the room, the camera panned over as several wizened forms began to appear from the hills, the trees, and the bushes.

" _We must-a-way-ere-break-of-daaaaaay…"_

"Away what?"

"No clue," Uzume replied. "Tsukiumi might know."

"Is she the expert on weird English?" Chiho asked, looking up at her Sekirei's face. The light from the screen cast a lovely glow on her features.

" _To seek-the-pale-en-chaann-ted. goooooold…"_

Uzume met Chiho's eyes, thinking the same of her Ashikabi. "Tsukiumi's into old stuff like that," Uzume smiled. "Though something tells me she won't be joining us any time soon."

"Whatever for?" Chiho sounded like she'd already guessed why.

"Sheeee's..." Uzume slid further beneath the covers, until her eyes were level with Chiho's and her head rested on the same pillow.

Chiho chortled a little. "She hates fun?"

"She hates fun."

Still smiling, the couple returned to the, erm, "action."

"- _Balin…_ " The image cut to two other dwarves, blonde twins. They were even dressed alike. " _Kili,_ _Fili…_ " Then two others, who were anything but. " _Dori, Nori,_ and _Ori…"_

The short man, introduced to the whole gaggle, was convinced to go along on the unexpected journey. He bellyached the whole way, through rain and lightning; through trolls, monstrous cannibals munching on mutton, who soon looked to stuff themselves with succulent dwarf-flesh. The sorcerer was the always the party's savior, bringing dawn to the trolls and turning them to stone; bringing dwarves and the short man to an elven city for food and rest; bringing steel to goblins when the horrifying creatures dragged them down to Goblin Town.

But no one could save the short man from the dark hole he'd been lost in, while the dwarves escaped the goblins.

" _Goeherm… Goeherm…"_ the bug-eyed creature groggled. _"Mmmmyy preecious… It_ iiiiizz _myy preecious…"_ It sat up in its boat, its webbed arms spilling over the side as it started to sift through the water.

"Uuuugh," Uzume cringed, "and I thought the _goblins_ were creepy."

"Interesting film you picked," Chiho remarked, a half-smile twisting her lips. "Is it too much for you?"

"Nnno," Uzume croaked, a small bit of bile burning her throat. "I'll be alright."

Chiho chuckled at that, and hugged herself to Uzume's soft bust. She could still hear the gurgles of Uzume's nausea.

To dark forests on eagles' wings, fleeing from goblins on giant wolves, and into dens of hungry spiders. They resembled bearded hannya, their empty eyes and bushy maws making them almost as frightening as Miya. But nothing could top terror quite like the landlady.

Through woods and wood elves (notably different than the first elves), a magic ring to hide the hero, make him invisible while he wielded his diminutive blade, less a sword than a stinger.

But against the beast that lay beneath the mountain, the half-pint hero was all alone.

A crimson monster, with eyes that shone like spotlights and the fires of perdition in its breath, sat lazily atop its hoard. It almost resembled a giant housecat, draped across a shimmering golden hill while the invisible hero gave it his measure.

"… _Ring-Winner and Luck-Wearer,_ _the Clue-Finder and Barrel-Rider!"_

"' _Barrel-Rider', eh?"_ the dragon echoed, nonchalant. " _Then I have guessed your riddle."_

Soon came the dragon's wrath, as the short man ran off with a jeweled cup, down the tunnel from which he'd entered the keep. The dragon was furious at the theft, and soon turned its wrath on the town at the mountain's foot. It tore through their homes, raining fire upon the lake until a single black arrow pierced its scaly hide, finding a notch in its tenfold-shielded armor and striking it dead in the sky.

Soon, news of its demise spread. Men and elves came looking to plunder the hoard it had so zealously guarded, but the dwarves were having none of it. It was theirs, they said, by no one's right but their ancestors', and they'd fight to the bitter end to keep it.

That is, until the goblins returned, forcing men, wood elves (different elves than the ones Gandalf had led them to; far more greedy, in Uzume's opinion) and dwarves to put their differences aside and fight off this new yet old scourge. The short man, who had no interest in affairs as war or the letting of blood, put on his magic ring and sat quietly upon a rock, awaiting the battle's end.

And with the end of the battle came the end of the dwarven leader, dying of mortal wounds, conceding that if more valued the short man's ways, of food and drink and merrymaking than hoarded gold, the world would be a happier place. Alas, 'twas not a world for the king beneath the mountain.

Uzume felt a sob against her bosom, and sure enough, there they were, soaking her shirt.

"Chiho, are you crying?"

"Just… Just a little," she sniffled. Uzume's Ashikabi was someone who liked happier endings. 'Sad ones happen too often,' as she would put it.

As the credits rolled, Uzume let them play out before reaching for the remote. It was at that point that Uzume realized she'd forgotten a certain tidbit that she'd meant to tell Chiho.

"Hey... Chiho?"

The blonde girl sniffled a little and looked at her Sekirei. "Y... Yes?"

Aaaww, she couldn't tell Chiho like this! If she dropped the good news now, her Ashikabi would be about as overjoyed as a someone with less reason to be overjoyed than they could be.

Uzume waved her hand. "Never mind. I'll tell you in the morning."

The lights in the room were already out; there was no need to get out of bed. Uzume pulled off her skin-tight shirt and wriggled a leg beneath her Chi-chan's own. The fragile blonde tried to lift herself up, but her sickly body had spent too long in bed; her muscles were withered and weak. So, Uzume gently followed her leg with her hand, rolling Chiho on top of herself and allowing the girl to rest her head on Uzume's soft pillows.

Tentatively, Uzume stroked her bedmate's goldenrod locks. "Love you, Chiho."

The girl blinked through her tears and looked up into her Sekirei's eyes. "I love you, too, Uzume."

With those final words, and a kiss on the lips to light the room one more time, the two sister-lovers drifted off to sleep…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

But within, now it was Uzume's turn for anguish.

She saw her friends, all huddled in a group, staring at her with fearful, sad and hate-filled eyes.

" _Thou contemptible craven,"_ scowled one. " _Doth honor and pride mean nothing to thee?"_

" _I can't believe you'd do something like this,"_ hissed another, smoke rising from his clenched fists. " _What were you thinking?!_ "

" _Uzume-san…"_ the child's specter sniffled. " _All those people…"_

" _Why couldn't you just let me help you?"_ Her friend's eyes scrunched up in mourning. "Anything _would've been better than this_."

" _I wasn't…_ " The red-headed one for whom she'd damned herself shed a single tear. " _I should never have gotten you mixed up in this._ _"_

" _Uzume, we were all friends here."_ This last one's typical pep was not to be found. " _Why did you have to ruin it?"_

And before them all lay Minato, hunched over and weeping as he held something in his arms.

It was then that Uzume realized that they were not crying and spitting at her, at least not _her_ her, but at the ground, wherein lay The Veiled Sekirei, bloodied, broken, her veil discarded to reveal her face, and her crest having been wiped from her back. Minato cradled her corpse's head as the fog surrounding it cleared. She'd not died peacefully, a long sword sunk into her chest up to the hilt, its tsuka kissing her sternum while the red-hot blade syphoned lifeblood from her back, crimson liquid running down its edge. Minato's ethereal hands wared far from the burning metal, her doppelganger's veils smoldering around it.

It was then that a final and thus far unknowable shape began making its way around the crowd. Through the haze over her mind, she couldn't see who it was. They stood taller than the rest, and as they approached the details of their form began to flesh them out.

That is, until they began to shrink. The grey humanoid's size was halved, downsizing as their hair grew proportionately longer. Flesh dyed itself as limbs and a face were sculpted to life, the shade of clay adopted as the shade of the gown she wore: a hospital gown.

"Chiho…" Uzume couldn't bear to look her Ashikabi in the eye. She sank to her knees, the voices of her friends fading into her mind. "I'm sorry."

She felt a small, tender hand cup her cheek, wiping away her glistening tears.

"Uzume…"

There was no mistaking that voice, or the blonde hair of its diminutive owner.

"What's there to forgive?"

Uzume practically leapt into Chiho's arms, hugging her to her bust just as she had in bed. Here, without a body to hamper her spirit, Chiho returned the hug full-force, pressing her face to her sister-lover's chest and humming softly, sending tingles down Uzume's spine. Chiho knew what she liked, and loved making Uzume happy as much as Uzume did Chiho.

"Hmh hmh, I'm glad you found someone," the blonde girl beamed, gazing up at her larger sister's glow.

Uzume frowned playfully. "I found someone the day I met you, silly!"

"No, I mean someone else," said Chiho, nodding her chin into Uzume's bust as she indicated to turn around. Uzume looked, and there stood The Man with No Real Name, Kagedansu.

His expression was unreadable. He was scrutinizing her like someone might scrutinize a garbage can before throwing something out, or a fireplace before tossing in another log. It was like looking at a statue.

Once he'd finished whatever mysterious observation he'd been having, his stone-faced expression began to soften.

"All part of the Plan," he said with a shrug. "Can't fault you for that."

Her joy was too much. Uzume lifted Chiho into her arms and carried her over to the other Sekirei; no _way_ was she going to deny herself this. The girls crashed into the black-clad wall and he hugged them both, surrounding them with the two-cent steaks he had for arms.

Chiho gazed up at the taller Kagedansu, reaching up to touch the muscles on his rib cage. "So, is _he_ going to father our kids?"

" _Chi-chan!_ " Uzume squalled, embarrassed. Thankfully, Kagedansu was blushing right along with her.

"Well?" Chiho chuckled. "You didn't exactly sound keen on adoption."

Uzume looked to Chiho, then to the man, then remembered her Ashikabi couldn't be fooled; not by her, anyway. Her clothes began melting, bleaching and morphing into the battle attire of the Veiled Sekirei. But unlike the others, neither Kagedansu nor Chiho scorned her for it.

Then these slid off, along with black gi and grey gown, the warm winds of the etherium furling around their naked bodies. Uzume couldn't decide where to start, wanting each of them for so long but never dreaming (literally) that she could have both until now. Never mind at the same time.

"Go ahead, Uzume," Chiho murmured, nudging her forward. "You've got babies to make."

" _Hurmf_." The Sekirei both blew the same throat-horn. Uzume loved Chiho dearly but her pillow-talk wasn't the most erotic thing she could've imagi-… Wait, this was _her_ dream.

"Gagh, we talk all the time. C'mere!"

Now this was better: being lifted and crushed to submission by two strong arms while a square-set jaw nuzzled her neck. Uzume's arms flew around his head and lowered it down to her chest, feeling the cleft of his chin draw a line through her cleavage. His mouth clamped around her nipple and started suctioning the pink right out of the areola; that might not have been his aim, but The Veil Sekirei could believe it, from how hard Kagedansu was devouring her tit. Her back arched as she felt his tongue motor to life, Uzume's heated breaths attracting a honeybee to their nectarous scent: Chiho floating up to her Sekirei's lips and supping straight from the source.

Uzume's white wings exploded from her, but even with two lovers working in tandem this dream could never compare to a _real_ emergence. And yet she couldn't stop, no _way_ would she stop, her tongue waltzing alongside Chiho's while Kagedansu's danced its own magic dance.

Her Chiho broke from the kiss, their mouths still open as their tongues swirled around each other's lips. The blonde finally floated back and looked to her side. Uzume followed her gaze as she felt Kagedansu's mouth leave her, but not for long.

Her eyes already were sliding shut, fully prepared to indulge in this one forbidden fruit, to make a unfulfillable pledge to another Sekirei, and seal it with a kiss.

 _She's nooooot a girl… Who misses much…_

Uzume stopped. What was… _Is_ that? Someone… With an electric guitar…

 __ _ _ _ Doo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

 __ _ _ Doo _ Doo_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _Oh _ _ _ _ __

 __ _ Doo _ _ _ _Doooooo…... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

 __Doo_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _yeah…__

The Veil Sekirei was still encircled by her lovers, would-be or otherwise, but their attentions no longer struck the same chord with her body.

 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ pane… _ __

 __ _ _ well_ \- _ _ _quain- _ _with _ _ touch, of _ _ vel-_ _ _hand, like _ li- _ _ on _ win- _ _ _ _ _ __

 _She's _ _ ac- _ _ _ ted _ _ _ the _ _ _ _ __ _a _ _ vet _ _ _ _ __ _a _ zard _ _a_ _ _ _dow_ _ _ _ __

"Who…?"

Kagedansu jerked from her tit, a small 'pop' resonating through her body as it jiggled back to its natural teardrop shape.

"' **Happiness Is a Warm Gun,' Beatles White Album, Track 8, Side 1, 1968!** " he boomed, before grinning at her. "Whaddo I win?"

" _A big hand,"_ sneered a voice.

It was the same voice, one that reached out from Kagedansu's heart and enveloped him in inky black, its hand emerging as white strings from its fingers pulled Kagedansu's hand up to its own. A shoulder came next, still oozing from her friend's beating heart as the creature's image slid itself from Kagedansu's physique. From his sternum came its blackened skull, dripping-wet with black ichor and that smell of rusted iron, just as No. 67 had described it.

Her hands flew to her lover's and practically tore him off of her, the Veil Sekirei darting back as Chiho continued to float near him.

"What's wrong, Uzume?" She was completely oblivious.

"Chiho, get over here!" Uzume cried.

" _Oh come, no need to be so uppity."_

Kagedansu began to fall, swaying back like a felled oak as the parasite's hand stretched for her, half-offering, half-demanding. She swatted it away with her veil, leaving an inky stain on the cloth, a stain which rapidly began to spread.

Her eyes grew wide, and The Veil Sekirei ripped her poor tendril from her body and threw it away. But like a loyal hound it returned, curling and sliding towards her before wrapping around her leg and spreading its infection.

The white on her body began to change, even as the black of Kagedansu's gi was syphoned away from his form, to coat the forming shape in its salwan sheen.

His attire's folds fluttering gently, as if he floated in a crystal lake, the Shadow Sekirei came to pieces as he touched down on the magenta ground, exploding into a cloud of black dust as his skin and hair ran like lava off of his evaporating form. Hametsu opened its mouth and breathed it in, as much as its freakishly wide maw could take. The colors and vibrance that had once been the boisterous Sekirei pooled like liquid wax around its feet, Kagedansu's face warped and contorted until it was lost to the swirling mass, his empty eye sockets beaming above his ever-devolving grin.

For the only thing that remained unchanged were Hametsu's yellow eyes. But even then… Something was different. These were not the eyes of Kagedansu, but orbs of his tormentor, more luminous and yet not; some trick of the mind, but it couldn't be.

The Veil Sekirei's own eyes narrowed and she leapt back, her veils hissing like snakes. Her white outfit clung to her more tightly, reassuring its mistress of its power even as the inky stains continued to spread.

" _You_ ," she scowled. Knowing where she was, her initial alarm was pushed aside by a spark of dominance. "Shouldn't you be picking on someone half your age? Like Ku?"

"Feh, _please_ ," it sneered at her _._ "As if any of you come _close_ to my age."

One eye narrowed. "Wait, do you mean chronological, _material_ , or-" It tapped its head with its fingers. "Psychological?"

"Jury's out on that last one," Uzume sneered back, finding her confidence to tell off this scum.

Now both its eyes narrowed. "Is it now?"

"What, you think you're tough?" she harped, a smile curling the corner of her mouth. "Easy to act all high and mighty when you never mess with people who can fight back."

Hametsu snorted. "What, _you?_ " Black tendrils sprouted from its form, all of them ending in blades, Uzume's corrupted veils doing the same. "Then by all means, let us dance."

She came at him, Hametsu melting into a puddle and disappearing into the ground. She whirled around, recalling Kagedansu's story even as her mindscape shimmered itself into that very same forest. But the strike still came from behind, Hametsu knowing himself too well to let her anticipate him.

"Whoops," he mused sheepishly, smirking at her. "Did that slip out?"

"Yeah," Uzume half-snarled, half-grinned, "it… It…"

His blade hadn't cut her, but instead coated her in that same viscous black liquid he was made of. She could feel it oozing along her back and seeping into her muscles. It started to feel… Good. _Real_ good, even. It was like the after-effects of a climax, that warm, heady feeling permeating her muscles and-

The lapse in concentration allowed Hametsu a second strike, and it was then that Uzume remembered she was fighting. But this one didn't hurt, either! It only made her feel even better! Three, four, five times his tendrils flayed her, coating her neck, then her curvaceous buttocks, then looping around to caress her well-portioned breasts, leaving her with more succulent ambrosia to feed her until she was on the ground, moaning and writhing while drenched in this _intoxicating_ ichor. Her legs clamped together as her fingers became more wet, her other hand rolling her boob around. Her own veils sought to pleasure her, lifting her ankles and probing at a ferocious speed while more caressed her thrashing torso. One slid up through her cleavage, brushing against her mouth. Her lips snapped up the tip and began drawing more of the stuff in, milking the tip dry.

All the while, Hametsu watched, arms fold, yellow eyes detachedly noting all of it, scrolling up and down her lithe form as she continued her upward spiral, her screams echoing throughout the mindscape. " **AH, HAH,** _ **AAAAAAAAAH!**_ **Ugh, GOD HOLY** _ **FUCK! YYYE-ES!**_ "

She couldn't stop going, a second, third and fourth climax hitting her in quick succession. The black fluid was seeping _out_ of her now, overflowing from every orifice, even the pores of her skin. The circuit kept feeding back in on itself, rewarding her with pleasure only to generate _more_ pleasure! If she kept going she might pass out from sheer titillating bliss, maybe wake up next to Chiho and bring her in on the fun.

Wait… Chiho… Where was she?

Uzume's body bucked, still rocked by the throes of euphoria. It pulled at her, beckoning to come back into the black lagoon that had formed around her. But instead she sat up, twitching once more as the oil dripping from her exquisite flesh triggered her sweet spots, and tried to climb to her feet. She slipped and fell, hitting her voluptuous posterior hard, but even this made her almost screech with agonizing ecstasy. Maybe just a little more…

No, enough was enough! This wasn't real, this wasn't right! She could find her own happiness, and no imaginary tar monster was going to give it to her!

She stood back up, wiping away the black fluid and forcing her libido down. As she flicked the last of it off her fingertips, she noted that her veils had also stopped trying to "please" her. They were still black, but try as she might to change them it just couldn't be helped.

" _Promisiiiing…"_ The word came through pursed lips, articulating the wild, hysteric thrill that shone through yellow eyes.

A black hand came down from the violet sky and smashed the ground, fracturing it and opening up a yawning void beneath. Uzume began to fall, grasping at the rubble around her but these black veils slipped and slid over them like they were soaked in oil.

Chiho floated above her, the palm which had shattered the world enveloping her small frame. And all Uzume could do was fall.

 __ _ need_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

 _I _ _ _ _ __ _a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _goin' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ fix _ _ _ _ __ _I'm _ _ _ _ _ do- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ' _cause _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _o- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _oooownnn…. _ __

Something about those words… Or the feeling… Urgh, whatever it was, it gave Uzume the bright idea to form angel-like wings from her veils. If climbing was out, then flying was definitely in.

She stopped her descent, and with it random chunks of aetheria that floated around her, like asteroids orbiting the Sun. She hadn't even filled out the wings, just formed them like a kid would in a drawing: outlined but completely transparent, because-

"The rules are my rules." She said it out-loud for some reason. But it was true.

Hametsu floated in front of her, sporting bat-like wings of his own. No, wait, not a bat... More like a gargoyle.

Or a dragon.

It sucked the breath through its chipped teeth, leering at her through its wicked grin. " _Wonnnderfullll…_ "

He spread his arms, giving her a half-curtsey. "Oh and, by the by..."

Her enemy snapped back to attention, dropping his strange manners to look her in the eye. "Sixty-Seven _did_ have a chance. Not my fault if he was too brainless to take it."

"Yeah, well get lost, creep," she spat, waving a hand and dissipating him like smoke, his essence fading as he dispersed. "I have nothing else to say to you."

"Really," his visage echoed, drifting in the air behind her. "If not me, then who?"

Uzume leered over her shoulder and shot him a disgusted look. " _What?_ "

"Oh come, Uzume, we both know you'll not confess." His arrogance was so damn _irritating_ , as if this joker knew thing one about her. "Fantasy is nice, but reality is all too often harsh."

That-! Wait…

"Yeah," Uzume said, tucking her new wings in behind her as she touched down, the jagged purple rock bobbing slightly upon her landing. "Like the reality between that bastard, Higa, and a gravestone that reads 'Hidaka Chiho'."

"And you never thought of going off-road?" it asked. "Even a two-way street leaves numerous paths, just unmarked and unpaved."

"And what's there?" she asked, giving in to whatever game he was playing. "Minaka? Please, you just talked about people being stupid. You really think the oh-so-impartial 'Gamemaster' is gonna to help me?"

"And what _was_ it you did?" it asked.

Uzume stopped herself just before she could spill, to give this thing more ammunition against her.

"Aaaahh…" it breathed. "Crossed _that_ line, did we? The Jinki?"

 _He's reading my… Wait, then that means-_

Uzume frantically tried to wake herself, recalling Kagedansu's story of how Hametsu bored into his brain. Aware of it now, she could feel his fingers pressed against her skull, her _real_ skull, as she lay next to Chiho on that hospital bed.

The spectre before her shook its head. "No use trying to escape, Number Ten. In the waking world, my mental discipline might be… Dare I say it, _mortal_ …"

It spread its arms, gesturing to the half-realized kaleidoscope around them. Its eyes flashed, appearing behind it as a giant pair of yellow orbs in the sky, inky blackness spreading to envelope her world.

" **But here… I am** _ **god**_ **to you** **.** "

It lowered its arms, the eyes in the sky vanishing to leave only those of the violet-lined silhouette's skull.

"But why not Minaka?" it inquired, circling around behind her, staying well within striking distance. "I'd wager _you_ thinks it's possible."

"It…" Uzume stood there, frozen not by terror but by something else, hearing these things she'd never thought of and yet had, now being brought before her conscious mind. "It's not-"

"Real?" it smarmed, finishing for her. She was about to snap a denial, but he simply kept talking. "Because it seems to me… That the reason you're borrowing time…"

It stopped, standing at ease in front of her.

"…Is because you're waiting for a miracle."

Uzume's inclination to lash out at this cretin and his stupid face caught in her hand. She stood there, statue-still, as all around, her mind shivered and quaked as it grappled with this new idea.

"Not so quick to dismiss _that_ one, are we?" it said, stroking its chin.

It floated around, leaving her line of sight once more.

"How about this, then: I could help you get what you want."

"You," Uzume spat, "don't have squat, never mind what _I_ want."

"Oh, don't I?" it grinned, pointing upward. From the violent sky came that black hand, which Uzume could see wasn't a human hand but something… Else. The palm was flat but curved where the wrist would be. The back was humanoid as well, but the fingers were more prismic in shape, ending in imitations of talons while all the sides ran perfectly straight, curving only at the joints.

And they uncurled to reveal Chiho's lifeless body.

No, wait, she was still breathing. She looked like she was…

Like she was asleep.

Uzume scowled. "What, am I supposed to buy _this,_ now?"

"Why not? I haven't spoken a lie since my arrival. But then again, denial _is_ the first stage of acceptance."

"' _Acceptance'?!_ " Uzume screeched, quickly reaching the end of her rope.

"Nyeeeees," it slurred slimily, beginning to lose cohesion. "Now, _what_ you choose to accept… Or deny…" It shrugged. "We shall see."

She could feel her body shaking itself awake. Between anger or desperation, because a sinking feeling began to weigh down her gut, she wasn't sure.

" _Still,"_ it pondered, feeling its hold slipping away, " _miracles are like… Like the Spanish Inquisition: nobody expects the Spa-"_

Uzume bolted upright, shivering despite her Sekirei physique and her warm-blooded companion. The lights were off in this room, a curtain keeping Chiho separate from the shadows that waited on the other side. Though she'd never been afraid of the dark, the Sekirei nevertheless wrapped her arms around her Chiho and hugged her close. The young girl's face nestled into Uzume's bare breasts, exactly how they both liked it.

It was then Uzume realized, with her Ashikabi's face buried in her plush pillows, that Chiho wasn't breathing.

"No…"

The Veil Sekirei immediately put her mouth to her sister-lover's and donated air from her lungs. The frail blonde let out a light sigh but her breaths did not resume.

" _NO NO NO…_ "

Uzume violently shaking her did nothing, now that rational response had failed. The next moment Ten was up and racing down the hall, not even bothering to dress herself.

" _SOMEBODY HELP_ _ **!**_ "

Hametsu's echoey laughter followed her all the way, through the darkness of her prison.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took everything she had not to cry. She refused to show weakness, not while Higa's lapdog was here.

"So, what's the deal, doc?" dripped Kaiha, lurking like a vampire in the corner of the room. Had Uzume not seen a _true_ demon in her dreams, she might almost feel intimidated.

The doctor put away his stethoscope, taking the buds out of his ears, and stood up.

"The disease wasn't the cause," he said. "Even at its current state, this onset of symptoms is unforeseen. It seems more like stress, coupled with a weak physique."

Kaiha snickered. "Too bad." She leered at Uzume. "Guess you're still with us, then."

 _I will_ never _be with you._ Oh, how good that would sound out loud…

"But I haven't done anything," said Number 10.

The doctor shrugged. "I can't say what it is," he said, "only what it's not. And Hidaka-san simply isn't at a fatal stage yet. Whatever has driven her to this, it's independent of her condition."

Kaiha snorted and left, off to report to her bastard of an Ashikabi. The doctor departed as well, packing up his tools before hurrying out to see to more patients. Uzume spared him a good thought; despite his boss, the doc was up at an impossible hour, helping people get better.

Uzume strode toward the bed and her bare foot crushed something with a loud crunch. She looked down and saw a rectangular piece of plastic, sending it sliding across the floor with an irritated shove. She was tired, though, and just wanted to put some distance between this room and herself, so she went to her backpack, still sitting on a visitor's chair, and began extracting her pink shirt and capris.

And yet, while she dressed herself, that plastic thing she'd stepped on piqued her curiosity. From where she'd trod on it, it must've fallen from somewhere. She hadn't left it there; she would've found it climbing into bed. So where had it come from?

Shuffling over with her capris around her ankles, Uzume reached down and picked it up, hoisting up her jeans on her returning ascent.

It was a DVD, by the look of it, and an American one. She'd list it as one of Kagedansu's, except he didn't know about Chiho (at least, Chiho had never mentioned him), and the cover didn't exactly look like the action-packed spectacles she'd seen littering his apartment.

At the thought of that phrase, "his apartment," not "his Ashikabi's apartment", she also spared a thought for Izanagi. Poor guys, the both of them…

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and looked back at the case she clutched. English wasn't her first language, but she correctly read the title as " _Needful Things_ ", and upon opening it found a broken DVD with a message written in black marker. This font was harder to read, being in some fancy-schmancy handwriting that she'd forgotten as soon as her tuner had moved past it. Once the scraps of her memory came together, the scribbles became two words:

 **B** _ **elieve it**_ **.**

She couldn't explain how, or why, but some sixth sense told Uzume that this was a joke and only one person got the punchline. She had a pretty good idea of who, resolving to crumple the parcel in her hands and deny him the satisfaction. A short trip to the trash bin saw the bottom dented from how hard she slammed it inside, racing out the door as soon as she'd found her shoes.

 _This was all just a bad dream_ , she told herself, _like the ones Ku had of the Inn._

She resolved to carry this nightmare out into the night. She knew better than to think staying here would let her pick up where she, Chiho and Kagedansu left off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything was a blur.

A whirlwind of color.

Faces.

Voices.

" _U'zme?"_

A black blob floated in front of her, topped with a cap of grey.

Number 10 swung at it. Missed. It tangled itself up in her arms.

" _What are y… …hiss late?"_

The brunette… Or was her hair another color? She couldn't remember. Everything faded again, the sound of snapping fingers sending her stumbling off to sleep. Then, a faint, echoey voice that sounded… Familiar. She didn't know who, and it wasn't anyone she'd met recently, but someone…

" _Gic-ma, gic-ma…"_

The black that held her cradled her in its arms, hugging her tight as it left the Earth behind. That same voice, the one she knew and yet couldn't remember, began to sing her to sleep.

" _One dream… One soul… One priiiiiize, one goal…"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The faint rays of sunlight left spots in her vision as Uzume groggily raised an arm to cover her eyes. Right away, something was wrong, and not simply because she was bereft of her star-shirt.

Her body felt… like it was filled with white noise, like she'd fallen asleep on her everything. It wasn't as unpleasant when she tried to move, as the blood still flowed through her veins, but it was uncomfortable nevertheless.

She wasn't in the hospital, either, but her room at Izumo Inn. And the chest that held her arm between its soft mammaries couldn't belong to her Chiho. Turning her head to the side, she saw that her bed-mate was none other than her bestie, Kazehana, her ivory skin as naked as Uzume's.

The brunette found herself in that same conundrum that she'd had the last time Kazehana had slept with her: stay and enjoy the sensation, as Kazehana was the sexiest woman Uzume could name, or cut it short. This time, though, the latter option had no case for itself. So, Uzume rolled up to Kazehana, their nipples kissing as their breasts pushed against one another. The sensation was so soft and mind-melting that it put Uzume right back to sleep again, a content smile gracing her features.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The second time Uzume tried to sit up, there were no girls to weigh her down besides her own. Kazehana was stretching out next to her, the elder Sekirei's naked flesh presented almost like an offering. Uzume resisted the urge to cop a feel; Miya was sure to be on them the instant her fingers so much as flexed.

"Morning, Uzume-chan," Kazehana breathed, now nice and limber as she sat up, itching the sleep from her eyes.

"Morning, Kazehana," Uzume replied, before resting an accusatory hand on her hip. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Minato's bed was too crowded," Kazehana insincerely whined. "And you looked lonely, asleep all by yourself."

"Yeah, speaking of sleep, how did I get here?"

A chill settled on the two women.

"I believe Homura could best explain," Miya said, hanya mask leering at the two women. "In the meantime, Kazehana, why don't _you_ explain what you were doing in Uzume's room?"

"Um, Miya? That's really creeping me out."

The hanya's aura only intensified, along with that of its owner. Uzume slid behind her sister Sekirei's back, hands gripping Kazehana's shoulders.

"Nothing happened, I promise!" Kazehana protested. "I was telling the truth when I said she looked lonely!"

"And did your friendly gesture require you to take off your clothes?" Miya's smile began to darken, more mirroring that of the hanya's.

Kazehana nervously shrugged. "What can I say? I just can't sleep unless I'm naked." Anticipating Miya's angrier reaction (which was well-foreseen), Kazehana stood up and exposed her lace panties to her landlady. "Now could you _please_ quit doing that, Miya?"

The landlady did no such thing, merely turning and walking down the hall. The hanya lingered until its master's footsteps could be heard descending the staircase.

As soon as the chill had left them, Kazehana drew Uzume to her chest and hugged her comfortingly, stroking the younger Sekirei's unbound hair.

"There there, Uzume-chan…"

"Um, Kazehana?" Uzume wasn't really sure how to respond to this. "What gives?"

Number 3 looked down at her friend. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" That tone of hers was putting Uzume on edge. "What?"

Kazehana sighed, closing her eyes and bracing herself for what would come. She slipped into her purple dress, Uzume's capris and shirt sitting neatly folded next to the bedspread. When the women had dressed themselves, Kazehana took Uzume by the hand and led her downstairs to the bathroom.

Pulling open the door, Kazehana slowly turned Uzume around and tugged down the back of her shirt, exposing her crest in the mirror.

"Look," said the Wind Sekirei. Uzume did so, and discovered that her quest to escape the nightmare had been in vain.

For her Sekirei crest had turned black, exactly like Kagedansu's.

"How…" Twin waterfalls began to pour from Uzume's eyelids. "No. Chiho. How could she-"

Once more, Kazehana embraced her friend, and this time, Uzume didn't break away. She held herself in Kazehana's arms, sobbing, trembling, that white noise that filled her body now emanating from her Sekirei core. She could feel it, Hametsu's poison, seeping through her link from her beloved Chiho and tainting the bond that they shared.

"Hey, what's going…"

The one who stood in the doorway, Homura, felt the question die on his lips as he, too, glimpsed at the black mark Uzume bore. Though it was against his nature to be so open, he glided over and hugged Uzume from behind.

"I had no idea…" he whispered, his feminine voice carrying his firm, collected calm even as deep within a turmoil began raging around his core. "Uzume, if there's anything I can do-"

Uzume whimpered something that sounded like a denial. Homura felt Kazehana's hands circling him now. The Wind Sekirei rested her head upon Uzume's shoulder, Uzume now crying into Kazehana's. Kagari was hesitant, but squeezed them one more time before separating. There was someone The Fire Sekirei ha to find, someone who'd gone elsewhere today.

Kazehana, meanwhile, continued to hold her weeping friend, never letting go, never tiring as they stood in that bathroom and held each other. Once more, Number Three was reminded of her fears, of what Minato and the others might suffer if Hametsu struck again. This was no way to be; she could sense it, Uzume wordlessly pleading with Kazehana to stay with her.

"Come on, Uzume," she whispered gently. "Let's take this somewhere more cozy."

Once more, she took the lead, Uzume having gone from open bawling to choked-up sobs as she was guided to the living room. Miya was already there, patting a hand on the couch and inviting them to join her. Her hanya mask was nowhere to be seen.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a half-hour before Homura found who he was looking for.

The one he sought had taken to the site of the First Match, training his pupil in the art of cinderblock-tossing.

Musubi and Tsukiumi were nearby, one not letting her husband out of her sight and the other wanting to help the former spar a little. The latter was in the middle of trying to catch the former's water-blade, which was more like a water-cricket-bat. That way, rather than be sliced in half, Musubi only got a knock on the noggin when she missed the catch.

"Owooo..." Musubi rubbed her cranium.

"Perhaps it's thy state of mind limits thee, rather than thy skill."

"Whaddo you mean, Tsukiumi?" asked Number 88.

"Well, as thou wishest to train for battle, then battle should be joined more earnestly," said Tsukiumi, taking a few steps back and raising her shimmering weapon to guard her bust. "Sekirei art more at home in combat, thyself more than most, I'd reckon."

"Oh! Okay!" Comprehension finally dawned on Musubi, who dropped into a fighting stance. "Let's go!"

The two women came together, Musubi's fist splattering Tsukiumi's water-club all over their clothes.

Minato halted in his latest toss, sweat dripping from his brow as the hill of concrete loomed next to him. That club had been a lot thicker than he'd realized, because the white fabric of Tsukiumi's under-dress and Musubi's gi was clinging to their chests.

Before he'd even had time to soak it all in, he found The Shadow Sekirei at his side, unamused and arms crossed. "Who told you stop chucking?"

Minato dumbly nodded and resumed his throw, sending the block to join the two-dozen others scattered around the ground in front of him. This one barely made it two meters before crashing to a halt.

It was then that Sixty-Seven turned to acknowledge the newcomer, who'd become distracted by his sister Sekirei and their sparring match. "Yeah?"

"It's Uzume," said The Fire Sekirei.

Now even Musubi halted, along with Tsukiumi.

"What about her?" rumbled Kagedansu.

"Her crest turned black like yours."

" _What?!_ "

Kagedansu remained expressionless, once more addressed his understudy. "Keep tossing."

"This is more important!" Minato squawked, marching over.

"Is Uzume going to be okay?" Musubi inquired, her concern plastered all over her cute features.

"Well, art _thou_ 'okay', as it were?" Tsukiumi asked, swiveling her gaze towards No. 67.

Kagedansu turned his eyes towards the ground, then his feet; he closed them for a moment, before meeting Tsukiumi's look. "Yeah. I guess. Given the circumstances."

"Well, she isn't," Homura said. "And I think you can understand why."

Kagedansu nodded. "Yeah, I can." He then turned to Minato, gripping him by the arm. "Come on, Minato, let's get back to it."

"Wait a minute!" Musubi beat Tsukiumi to the punch, grabbing his shoulder and whirling him around. "Don't you wanna go help her?"

"By doing what, exactly?"

This put Tsukiumi at a disadvantage; she didn't have an answer. Musubi, however, didn't skip a beat.

"I don't know! You'll think of something!"

Kagedansu remained where he was. "And what makes you so sure I will?"

"Because," Musubi began, striding over to him. She took his hand, with palms like calloused leather over beef jerky, and clasped it between her own. "You know what she's going through. You lost your Ashikabi, too, but you're still carrying on. I don't know what it was that made you do it, but you never gave up. And you don't want _her_ to give up, either."

Musubi lifted her top hand and placed it against Kagedansu's chest. For a moment, at his position behind The Shadow Sekirei, Minato could've sworn he saw someone else standing behind the brunette. They looked just like her: brown hair, hime haircut, hazelnut eyes, girly face, dressed in a black kimono and wearing grey fighting gloves instead of red ones. This other Musubi turned to him, to _both_ men, and smiled with her twin.

"Your heart is beating for her," she said. "You and Uzume have something else, something different than the normal bonds between people, or even between a Sekirei and an Ashikabi; I can feel it deep inside you. All that's left is for you to show it to each other."

With these final words, Minato's vision of Musubi's twin dissipated, fading back into the mid-day air.

The blonde-haired remained unreadable, looking at this girl, who spoke to him not like a friend talks to friend but how a mother might speak to her uncertain child. Finally, he nodded.

"I'll do that," said Kagedansu, taking her hand off of his sternum, "but not now."

"If not now," said Tsukiumi, finally deigning to speak up, "then when?"

The large Sekirei shrugged. "When it feels right."

"And just how wilt thou know when it 'feels right'?" The Water Sekirei continued to press him, placing her hands on her hips.

"He just will," Musubi beamed, her expression showering her friends with optimism. "Right, Kagedansu?"

"Yeah," he rumbled, nodding a little. "I will."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dinner that night was a somber affair. Uzume sat amongst the other tenants, with no one daring to look her in the eye. She didn't need awkward stares to remind her of what she was enduring, the fact she hadn't touched her food a telltale sign enough.

Minato glanced over to where she sat, only to see that Uzume was looking at him and quickly jerked his head down. He couldn't dare meet her gaze, not like this. Kazehana, seated next to him, leaned on him with her left boob against his arm, feeding another forkful of beef into her mouth. Had the mood been better, she probably would've risked a joke about Minato's… "meat", despite Miya being seated within whacking-distance.

Matsu's eyes kept going from her dinner to the brunette seated next to her, Uzume neither noticing nor caring. She was worried, her reason-twofold. The first was about that black mark on Uzume's back, but the second… Well, best not to jump to conclusions.

Musubi was on the other side of her Ashikabi, having beaten Tsukiumi at another shopping race. She was the only one at the table who wore a chipper look, her confidence in Kagedansu holding all day. By contrast, Tsukiumi was in a far fouler mood than most, with not one, not two, but _three_ things vexing her. The first was Kazehana's vulgar caress of her husband, the second was the tragedy that had befallen her friend, the third was that the blackheart Hametsu had struck yet again, and-

Four, _four_ things vexing her: Kazehana, Uzume's condition, Hametsu's cowardly attack, and the fact that she once again missed a chance to run him through. If he ever showed his face around her, her water blade would pierce whatever cancerous black mass substituted his heart.

Musubi spoke up. "Hey, Uzume-"

" _What._ "

Musubi started a little. "Umm… Could you pass the soy sauce?"

Uzume wound down a little, suddenly feeling terrible. "Sure." She reached over to grab it, only to knock the bottle over. Brown liquid spilled all over the table, the cap having been left loose for ease of access.

Uzume shot from her seat. "God _DAMMIT!_ "

 _Bap._

Miya, seated between Uzume and Kazehana, had tapped the back of Uzume's hand with her spoon. "Vulgar language is not permitted at the table, Uzume."

The sullen Sekirei rubbed her hand. "I'm _sorry._ "

"Oh?" The hanya came out from behind Miya's head. "What's this tone I'm hearing?"

Her tenant didn't even flinch, not a twinge of anxiety while everyone else at the table shrank from the demon's visage.

Uzume stopped, took a long, deep breath, and sat back down. "And I'm sorry about that, too."

"Good." The hanya disappeared. "There's no reason to fret over a simple mess."

And that was the last time words were exchanged between them that night. The meal carried on in silence, one by one the tenants rising from their seats to put their dishes in the sink and go off somewhere else. Uzume was the last, only eating once her hunger finally got the better of her. By then, nearly everyone had gone. Miya remained, watching her tenant devour her dinner in a swift but orderly manner. Uzume left no mess, no crumbs, despite the speed at which her food vanished.

Her fork and knife were left in the bowl as it clattered into the sink, the brunette rinsing out the soy sauce and setting it all aside. The white noise was still filling her: not painful, not unpleasant, but ever present regardless. It was like… Like Hametsu didn't want to _hurt_ her, not any more than he already had, but still wanted her to remember he was there. God, Kagedansu had been putting up with this for over a week now. Was she going to have nightmares now? That image of him, lying on the floor of a disheveled heap that used to be Izanagi's apartment, was now replaced with her, lying face-down in a sea of stuffed animals, their fur matted by filth and spilled alcohol.

And Kazehana was there, trying to shake her awake. The irony almost made her chuckle.

Uzume wouldn't let him win. In fact, as she stormed upstairs, she _relished_ the thought of seeing him again, if only to shiv his smug black face until it looked like meat-through-a-paper-shredder. This bastard wanted to give her nightmares? She could do worse. She had a whole day's worth of "rotten" to fuel the fire, and wringing his slimy black neck, even if it wasn't real, was going to feel _soooo_ good.

Uzume slid the door open, to be greeted by her room. The lights weren't on, but she sensed that someone was watching her. Her hand darted to the switch on the wall, her bedroom lighting up to reveal the black-clad form of-

" _Kagedansu!_ "

The Shadow Sekirei sat cross-legged next to her bedspread, one eye opening as she stomped over and glared down at him.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" she demanded.

"Waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

He put a hand on his knee and hoisted himself to his feet. "For the right moment."

Uzume's whole body tensed up, ready to lash out in an instant. Had he found out about her double-life? Was he really going to attack her? Even with Miya around, maybe he was planning on taking her out lickety-split, and then legging it.

Calmly, the Shadow Sekirei approached her. As he reached for her shoulder, she allowed that muscle to relax; if he touched her like this, he'd know something was wrong.

"I heard about your Ashikabi."

The Veiled Sekirei felt her coils begin to coil beneath her jeans, hugging her tight so as to remain invisible. "About what Hametsu did to her?"

Kagedansu nodded. "Yeah."

Uzume's breath almost exploded out of her mouth, but that would've just made things worse.

Instead, it exploded out when the big Sekirei pulled her into a bear-hug.

"Whaaa-…" As her lungs refilled themselves, her arms slid around his back and returned her gesture in kind. What the hell was she thinking? Kagedansu was about as threatening as a teddy bear, except when he wasn't. She finally relaxed, sliding her arms up and leaning into him. "Everyone wants a hug today."

"Because hugs are nice," he told her softly.

She closed her eyes and nuzzled her head beneath his jaw. "Yeah," she murmured, "they are."

Uzume recalled the morning after Hametsu had first appeared, when they'd found Kagedansu unconscious on the front step. She remembered how broken-up he'd been, reduced to shambles over the loss of his beloved Ashikabi. His foul mood had remained, from the trip to the hospital to when he'd almost _killed_ her as the Veiled Sekirei, all the way up to her visit upon his apartment, with Minato and Tsukiumi.

"Hey."

Her eyes rolled up to look at him, though there was no way to meet his own. "Yeah?"

His arms uncurled from around her, his hand gliding down to take her own. The other Sekirei led her over to the window, sliding it open. The soft moonlight highlighted the features of his jaw, casting shadows over his yellow eyes.

Uzume beat him to the punch, stepping up and leaping out before him. Poor Kagedansu almost had his arm yanked from his socket, had he not taken to the air along with her.

At the second leap he lost his grip on her hand, but that didn't stop Uzume from touching down, jumping off, and shooting him a "catch-me-if-you-can" smirk. It didn't dawn on him at first, but when on the fourth rooftop she curled the bottom of her shirt around her finger, her eyes switching from playing to flirting, the message finally came through.

At that point the Sekirei took their game far away from the city, from the inn all the way east to the northern side of the wharf, Uzume always making sure to keep juuust far enough ahead so as not to lose him. He took a few swipes at her in the air, her flowing locks billowing behind her, which cast before the moon framed her silhouette as that of a playful nymph.

He almost caught up to her at the top of a tall apartment complex, his groping hand barely missing her own, but once more she slipped away. Uzume wasn't about to let him have her _that_ easily. Her legs propelled her down towards a lower building, three stories shorter than the previous roof. She spun on her heel as she landed, but there was no more pursuit.

Instead, Kagedansu remained atop the apartment building. The distance was great and the angle was awkward, but his hunched-over head and crossed arms put it in Uzume's head that maaayybe she'd dragged it out a little.

In a moment, she was up on the roof, walking up behind him. She could hear some grumbled gibberish spilling from his mouth, and a few "Fehs" and "Hmphs" to punctuate things.

"Hey, come on," she pleaded cheerily. "I was just having some fun. I didn't want to- Eek!"

Like a hurricane wind he whirled around, his arm catching her by the waist and curling her into his embrace, looking the same direction as him now.

"Got you," he whispered into her ear.

The brunette made a half-hearted attempt to dislodge his arm from her flat stomach, but truth be told, where it was, just under her boobs, so close she could probably touch him with a good jiggle… It felt kind of nice.

"Hmph," she smirk-sighed. "Cheater…"

"Cheating would mean there were _rules_ , you know."

The two of them flopped down on their rears, legs split, as sure enough, Uzume's theory proved correct.

"So what now?" she asked.

Kagedansu placed his jaw atop her cranium. "I'm supposed to say something."

"About what?"

He sighed through his nose. "About you-know-who."

Uzume's cheer dimmed; playtime was over, it seemed. "Oh…"

"And now that we're alone, I can't think of one damn thing."

"Ha! Don't you hate that?"

"'Don't have to; it's making me mad right now."

"Well, say whatever comes to mind," she said, turning her head up to gaze at him. She felt his belly swell with air as he prepared to make a statement, his lips tensing with more than a little anxiety as he reared back, and blurted out,

" _Gosh,_ you're pretty. Ow."

She retracted her elbow from his ribs, though she had a feeling he'd escape a bruise.

"What was _that_ for?" he asked.

"For being too honest." And for turning her cheeks red with bashfulness. "You're terrible, you know that, Kagedansu?"

"Now who's being too honest?"

"And that's a bad thing?" she countered.

He raised his eyebrows. "It's kinda nice, actually."

 _Oh really_ , she thought, scooching back against him. He responded by wrapping part of her shirt around the hand that was pressed to her.

"You know," she said, "when a girl asks what's on your mind, she doesn't _actually_ wanna know what's on your mind."

He shrugged. "Ask question, get answer."

"Then… Can I ask you a serious question, Kage-kun?"

His shoulders twitched for another shrug. "Sure."

"How do you… How you deal with it?"

Sixty-Seven leaned back on one hand, his other one still wrapped in pink and purple fabric. "I don't, not really." She didn't even have to say what "it" was. "I just ignore it, find things to take my mind off it."

She left his gaze and leaned back into him. He scooched his butt back and leaned forward, his other arm wrapping around her waist. The red blood flowing through his muscles warmed her exposed stomach on this cool spring night, his lax biceps hugging her shoulders. It almost measured up to Kazehana's warmth, and the coziness of her soft pillows.

"Like what?" Uzume continued.

"Just something else to do. I started training Minato, because I said to myself, 'There's a lot of bad stuff out there that wants to hurt good people, and we can't protect them all around the clock'."

"Don't say that to Tsukiumi; she'd rip your arm off." Uzume was momentarily jostled forward as Kagedansu huffed a chortle.

"Yeah," he said. "Though I'm pretty sure she wouldn't stop there."

"With you, or Minato?"

"'Yes'."

Now they both shared a chuckle.

"So," she continued, "is that all there is? Finding a hobby?"

"Not entirely," said Kagedansu. By now, some of her stomach had started showing, as his fist had taken a good deal of the cotton that she wore. She clasped his hand before it could tear a hole in her favorite top, but then halted. It just now occurred to her how close they were, literally, and how easy it would be to get this shirt off.

"Stay around people," he said. "Don't let anyone tell you differently, even yourself, you'll never be in a good mood. But when I'm at the Inn, I gotta keep up the facade, make it look like everything's hunky-dory. Do it enough and you might just start believing it."

She bent her knees and pushed her hips a little closer to his own, snuggling deeper into him.

"Oh, and one more thing," he added softly.

She looked up at him, her cheerful grin now nowhere to be seen but the serene calm of her features more than surpassing its beauty.

"Don't sleep alone."

Now what could he mean by that, she wondered. The brown-haired Sekirei decided it was time for another question.

Her query: to tug his shirt-wrapped hand as it revealed more and more of her skin to the night sky.

His response: to continue drawing it up even after she stopped pulling on him.

Her head dipped forward as the shirt neared the end of its run, turning the long sleeves inside-out as she freed her arms. Uzume spun to her knees, pushing Kagedansu back and looming over him on all fours. Her bare breasts hung beneath her naked torso, but his eyes were locked squarely on hers. Well, maybe just a _quick_ peek…

And she gave him more than an eyeful, reaching around and drawing his face into her cleavage as her other hand drew a line down the center of his chest, parting his gi like a ship breaking water. She moaned as he began nuzzling her breasts; her hand dove below his waistline and found evidence of his arousal. She pulled the bottom of his gi out from his pants, drawing it over one his left shoulder as Kagedansu slipped his arm from the other.

His top flew to join hers in a heap, Uzume sitting back and taking Kagedansu with her. He moved up from nuzzling to kissing the top of her right breast, just above the areola. Then her clavicle. Then, just below her neck. As she stuck her nose into his cropped hair and took a whiff, his hands found the button and zipper of her jeans.

Uzume was pushed up to her feet via her breast, her partner showering her bosom with some much overdue care. His other hand ran along the inside of her jeans, separating them from her hips and working them down to her knees. Her panties remained behind.

Uzume was hard at work doing the same to Kagedansu's baggy black trousers. He wore no underwear, as was his way, so she had no excuse to drop to her knees; his pants descended on their own once past his hardened thighs. He continued to fondle her, the two of them closing their eyes and touching their foreheads together. Hot breath washed over the other's mouth, the closest thing they could allow to locking lips, for a kiss to a winged Sekirei was an unbreakable vow to remain with someone forever. Ashikabi or no, Uzume couldn't make that promise with the Plan going on, and she couldn't bear to pressure Kagedansu about it.

However, while a kiss on the lips was taboo, the rest of their bodies were fair game. The burly Shadow Sekirei parted from her forehead and planted his lips behind her jaw, just below the ear. Uzume moaned and arched her back, pushing her tit more into his grasp. Her lover worked his way back down her body, kissing his way through her cleavage and down her flat stomach. Her fingertips dug into his scalp, their owner craving the final step. And as his thumbs hooked her pink lace underwear and rolled it down her legs, The Veil Sekirei's desire followed close behind, shimmering along the inside of her thigh.

And with a flick of her foot, the two now stood, skyclad as the day they were birthed.

His latest kiss from him was dangerously close to her most sacred place, and even now she felt the twinge of doubt beset her. He still wasn't Chiho, and as impossible as it was Uzume had always wanted Chiho to receive her crimson virginity. But, if there was one man in the entire world who'd convinced her to relinquish her maidenhood, she could think of no one else but Kagedansu.

The Sekirei in question had now worked his way back up to her; he twitched as she took hold of him. No surprise that Kagedansu remained as strong and rocksteady as ever. The thought of experiencing this was a little scary; she'd seen what breed of animal Kagedansu was from his fighting and taste in the arts. He was the wild sort, and the image of him ravaging her virginal form with such strength as he commanded was exciting yet alarming all at once. But, she recalled the closeness that she'd felt with Kazehana and Matsu, that night at the greenhouse, and both her body and spirit were taught with hunger.

No more delays; she lifted a leg and guided him towards herself. She felt the connection form, then deepen, and then-

"AAGH!"

Her body locked, her eyes tore open and a sharp spike of pain shot through her loins. Now she really _was_ past the point of no return, and boy, did it hurt.

As soon as she was able to limber up, Uzume whipped forward and threw her arms around his neck. She felt something mix with her arousal, her superhuman nose knowing it well from the red stains left upon the Veiled Sekirei's victims.

A few gasps and heaves left her open mouth as she stared blankly at their contact, this sensation unlike any she'd felt before. Though Chiho remained comatose in bed, so far away, Uzume knew she was smiling. She knew, despite the strain upon their bond, that everything she felt, every surge of pleasure, every tingle of joy, every assurance that Chiho's wish had been fulfilled, would reach her beloved.

Because, though it was faint and the white noise of taint still leaked from her Sekirei core, Uzume felt a small, fragile, nigh-insignificant pinch of happiness reach her, from somewhere far away.

 _Chiho, this one's for you, too._

As she grew accustomed to these new feelings, she felt Kagedansu's hands grip her soft buttocks. They traced the lines beneath, where they met her legs, and then descended down her hamstrings. Up came one leg, his fingers tenderly sliding behind her knee, then the other, Uzume hopping up and feeling his heartbeat delve further.

 _Oooooh, yeah. Baby, you're huge._

Her butt got a hard squeeze, almost like he was trying to squeeze juice from her. In a way, it worked. Uzume squeaked a little as his hips touched down against her own, Kagedansu giving a little jerk that sent a tingle of pleasure sizzling alone Uzume's nerves. Then he did it again, and again, her boobs shaking with every slap.

Her knees clamped around his waist as she added her own movements to their dance, as slow as it began. Now his hands began lifting her up, unsheathing the one and only weapon he carried on him.

This felt… _Perfect_. That was the word: every inch of tingling pleasure shot up to encompass the pillar of perfection that was their coupling. Uzume was already starting to sweat, her blood boiling so hot it turned her into an oven.

She needed a release; the pressure was already starting to climb. She slammed a lid on it while slamming herself down on Kagedansu, desperate to keep it building for as long as she could. Just the thought of showering herself with such heavy water made her pelvis slam forward harder than she'd intended, and it sent Kagedansu on his ass, her feet hitting the floor along with him.

If it was perfect before, then what was she supposed to call this? Planting her feet, their motion of passion became more intense. Her mouth was open as steam rolled out into the cool night air, to crash and mix with his as completely as their bodies were.

Uzume felt a face nuzzling her breasts and crushed it to her, smothering him with her sweater-bunnies.

"Huhn, easy on my ass!" Not a slap but yet another squeeze; Uzume hadn't pegged him for the groping kind but Kagedansu seemed intent on leaving no part unexplored.

His other hand clapped against her back, like he was trying to bottom-out his face inside of her cleavage. He drew her back, Uzume squealing with delight and disappointment as his face slid up between her breasts, his cheekbones kneading her like twin rolling pins. This was a lot less rowdy than she'd expected; once more, the word "perfect" came to mind, less savage than "rough" but more carnal than "tentative".

 _It's like we were made for eachother,_ she thought as he kissed her between her breasts.

She leaned up placed her hands on his abs, swiveling her hips back and forth, stirring herself up even more. She felt a hand press against her pelvis, almost like he was about to push her off, until his thumb started to-

"Oh yeah, keep doing that! Ngh… UGH!"

 _How did he-? Oh, who cares! Feels so…_

The speed of her gyrations accelerated to Mach 2, Kagedansu's thumb furiously flicking her switch until she started to see spots in her vision. Were these the stars? She knew she was looking up, but so much blood was flowing to her loins that vertigo had begun to set in.

 _I think… I'm blacking out… DON'T YOU DARE STOP!_

Her clawed fingers found his cranium and pulled him towards her face. She gave his forehead a long, carnivorous lick while her hips remained as powerful as pistons on a steam locomotive. Kagedansu pushed himself to his feet, his loins slamming into hers, driving her closer to the explosive end of the line. She felt her back slam against a wall; she couldn't see straight anymore, everything was a haze of grunts, gasps and sweaty juices. His mouth clamped around her left breast, while his left hand aggressively fondled her other boob.

As for his right hand, or more specifically his right fingers, they were tracing V-shapes around the fountain of her loins. His thumb, however, was seeking entry somewhere else.

"Go there! Lemme have it!"

He obliged.

"Yes!"

She could feel her breasts growing larger, along with the pressure between her legs.

"YES!"

Almost…

" _YES!"_

She heard Kagedansu's long groan of ecstasy, and the lock she'd put on herself finally broke.

"AaaaaAAAH! OH _SHIT,_ YES! AUUGH!"

Their hips continued spasming, each leaving their mark upon the other, what with Uzume's nails digging into his back.

Still joined at the hip, the lovers fell back, Uzume rocking forward and flopping down on top of him, their connection finally broken but hardly dispelled. She ached, but a euphoric smile was plastered on to her lips. Looking away, seeing the lights of city fade back into focus, her only regret was not listening to Chiho and Kazehana sooner.

 _Don't sleep alone_. Kagedansu's solicitation echoed in her mind. She pushed herself up on all fours and looked down at him.

"Kage-kun," she said, with a new fire in her bust, "I won't, not ever again."

He frowned for a moment, then closed his eyes and nodded, almost like how a sensei would nod at their student. Their heads tipped together for another gentle touch; she could feel something, some kind of connection with him now. Maybe it was due to the lessening of their bonds with their Ashikabis, but, for now, she was glad they had something.

Though, she couldn't help but giggle as Kagedansu's fingers began sliding around her boob.

 _Can't blame you, Kage-kun_ , she thought. _If I were in your shoes… Feet? Whatever. I'd want me, too._

She swayed to the side and leapt off of him, landing on her knees so as to show off both her curvy posterior, and the fact that her boobs were so large they were visible from behind.

"Ready to go again?" she called seductively.

" **HARDLY!** " he boomed, sitting up on his side and sweeping a hand around him. "I mean, have you _seen_ this rooftop? It's covered in dirt, there's never any housekeeping up here, it's so damp I got a moss-beard _already,_ I think I might go home and take a shower."

By now Uzume was facing him, hands planted in front of her straddled crotch so that her arms squished her boobs together.

"Babe," she smiled, laying back with arms and legs spread wide, "we're nowhere _near_ shower-time yet."

"Obviously," he replied sincerely.

The night was still young as the other Sekirei pounced on her, and in a moment they were spreading their newfound love all over the rooftop.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

Reason I took the chapter down was because no one had anything to say about it. So, I deleted it, polished it up, and here it is again. There's something that's been bugging me for a while, but I won't say what it is just yet. Depending on the feedback, I may not even have to.


	53. You've Got to Kill to Stay Alive

**Chapter 53: You've Got to Kill to Stay Alive**

Uzume awoke the next morning feeling absolutely gross.

And it wasn't from the grimy rooftop, either. She was sticky with all a matter of fluids and juices: some from him, some her own. Her hair was in her eyes and brushing it back just made her realize how thoroughly those juices had coated her. Her groin still ached from the hours they'd spent going at it. She had to wonder if she could still walk normally. Well, only one way to find out.

Uzume's flailing hand found an industrial AC unit, the steel cool beneath her palm as she hauled herself to her feet. It was then she noticed there was someone missing from this picture.

 _Where is he?_ She distinctly remember toppling off of him after what must've been their tenth round and passing out there, so pleasantly exhausted that even the hard concrete felt comfortable. If only her past self knew what she knew now, uttering a groan as she felt each and every spot of soreness along her poor spine.

Uzume smiled as she put her fists against her back and snapped, crackled and popped back into alignment. _Worth it_ , she thought.

Peering over the AC unit, she finally spotted Kagedansu, lying prone on his side, his right deltoid providing a pillow for his head.

And fully clothed.

Uzume, raising an eyebrow in skepticism, strode over to where their clothes had been left. Sure enough, only hers remained. Her libido started acting up again and she came up with a nasty idea.

Strutting over to where Kagedansu lay, she bent down and snapped her fingers in front of his face a few times. Nothing. She then flicked his nose a few times, after which his eyelids started to twitch. Her smile growing wider, she stuck a toe into his shoulder and tipped him onto his back. Sixty-Seven kept playing possum, flopping over even though the corner of his mouth was starting to form a smile of its own. His eyelids had stopped shuddering, so Uzume bent down once again and swiped a hand in front of his face. Like the finger-snaps, nothing. His eyes were closed, which suited her just fine.

"Wake up and smell the dew," she called, before standing over his neck and straddling his face. He wasn't done provoking her, because instead of diving head-first into her, he continued the facade.

Uzume placed a hand on her hip. "Come on, Kagedansu," she said, swiveling herself across his lower lip, leaving a taste of herself behind. "You know we want to."

Below him, the male Sekirei opened one eye, his mouth caving into a grin. "I was waiting for us to say 'please', but then you go and jump the gun."

"Well, what can I say?" she countered, starting an erotic writhe that made her breasts sway out and in; she delighted in how his eyes kept going from her own to her chest. "I have a lot of lost time to make up."

"What, and I don't?" Kagedansu asked, though she felt his left hand sliding under her groin.

She hooked her fingers into the back of his head and pulled him face-deep between her legs, locking them tight.

"Just shut up and eat me," she breathed hotly.

About two seconds later, she had his answer, one that made her arch her back and cry out in pleasure.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nice to see you cleaned up the place," Uzume remarked as she followed Kagedansu into his apartment.

In truth, any other girl (or more specifically, any other haughty blondes she may or may not know) probably would've nagged him to death about the state. The pizza boxes were gone, as were the crumpled-up pieces of paper, but specks of old dinner still littered the carpet. The CDs had been returned to their shelves, even organized by alphabetical band name, but several guitars were still lying about the furniture like a squadron of squatters.

A single album remain un-shelved: "Lord of the Wasteland", by a band she'd never heard of. She made a mental note to look it up later.

Those posters which had fallen off the wall had been re-mounted, if not straight. Upon peering into the corner bedroom, the bunk was (almost) made, with the sheets and pillow at least looking like a human being slept in it, as opposed to, say, a Bengal tiger.

"Now then," said the other Sekirei, taking his own look around the dwellings, "shower."

Uzume was already hooking her fingers into her shirt, but stopped just as she brought it up beneath her bust. For Kagedansu hadn't moved towards the bathroom, but the 4-piece stereo system, taking out the aforementioned album and popping it in the player. He stood there, hand on the lid, until the sound of a nuclear alarm siren rose to the fore, sounding like it was echoing in the distance. Then another followed, with an electric guitar and snare drum bringing up the rear. The image of a stream of people, marching towards mountainside bunkers as plutonium-filled doom approached from across the globe, unwittingly entered Uzume's head; the image chilled yet thrilled her. As Kagedansu finished goose-stepping his way into the bathroom, totally taken by the beat, she herself started getting into the wailing, high-pitched doom.

The water came on just in time for the opening to end and the heavier, more distorted guitars of the first song to take their place. Kagedansu was already singing, right on time with it.

" _Blood and dust in the de-sert sa-aannd… Go to wa-aarr, at my com-maaannd!"_

Once again, she was taken aback by how his voice could jump two octaves at his com-mand. So much so that she didn't realize that she was staring at his hardened behind.

"Hey, Kagedansu!" she called, blushing red despite all they'd done with and to each other. "You left the door open!"

In the shower, the large Sekirei turned around to stare back at her.

"Look, if you don't want me to see you clothed," he called back, stretching one muscular arm behind his back to wash his shoulder, "there's a very simple answer for that!"

Uzume blinked. Not the response she'd been expecting. Then again, as she slipped out of her capris, her boyfriend had proved himself full of surprises.

' _Boyfriend',_ she thought, beaming brightly. _Kagedansu's my boyfriend._ Trying the phrase on for size, just the thought of it filled her with so much joy. She felt liberated by it, like a huge weight had taken leave of her shoulders. In fact, she felt so good that the tingling of her tainted crest was gone. It was intangible to her, sliding off as surely as her pink underwear.

She murmured it to herself, this time out loud, and it wasn't just her; that collection of syllables sounded just as good coming out of her mouth. Stretching out her bust, knowing that the man in the shower was still getting a preemptive eyeful, Uzume ran her fingers through her chocolate-brown locks. Soon enough, her side-tail was freed from its hairband, and joined Kagedansu in the clear glass stall.

She pressed her slippery hourglass form against his exterior, her breasts ballooning across his front ribs as she took hold of him. Her eyes locked onto his, beaming amorous signals between the two of them; contact was broken when her eyes slammed shut as he squeezed her round, supple buttock. She squealed in delight and leapt up to his shoulders, seating herself comfortably around him.

What followed was the longest, filthiest shower she'd ever taken.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now clothed once again, Uzume was back in Chiho's room at the hospital. Even now, she still felt a little guilty, and a little dirty, despite a quick stealth-bath at the Inn.

Chiho, alas, was in no condition to object to any smell, but Uzume kept hope alive inside. She supposed that was _one_ thing Hametsu got right about her, the sneaky cu-

"Language, Uzume," she muttered, after realizing she'd been mumbling her thoughts aloud.

The petite blonde still lay comatose in bed, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the sole thing that Uzume found comfort in. Seated beside her, the Sekirei longingly placing a hand on Chiho's cheek. The two exchanged warmth, only one truly feeling it, before Uzume leaned down and gently touched her forehead to Chiho's.

"You were right, Chiho-chan," said Uzume. Without moving her head, she gave the girl a small kiss on the lips. "About everything."

She leaned back, took Chiho's hand and began caressing it.

"For some reason, I thought I'd be cheating on you," she began softly, before chuckling. "Well, I guess I kind of did, but you haven't met Kazehana. She can be pretty convincing when she wants to be. She made me realize what a moron I was for thinking you'd have a problem when you _literally_ told me to be happy."

There she went, rambling on. Chiho couldn't hear her and she was still nervous as all hell.

"And Matsu is-"

 _The reason I can't get you treated at MBI and bring this horrible nightmare to an end._

"Equally convincing," said The Veil Sekirei, "though she's a little more touchy-gropey, and a little more crazy." She chuckled. "You'd like her."

Through her nose, she sucked in a long breath. _Here goes,_ she thought.

"I finally found someone else. He's almost nothing like you, though. He's loud… smart-mouthed… kind of reckless sometimes… But he's a sweet guy. I thought I was already the luckiest girl alive the day I met you, but now…"

She sighed, sounding more like Kazehana than she would've thought possible, if someone had asked her two days ago.

"Ah, perfect timing, Number Ten."

And that was why this was her least favorite place: not the scenery, not the occupant, not the mediocre dining, but the lousy neighbors. This was one particular afternoon where she _really_ didn't feel like putting up with Higa's crap.

She raised herself up spun around, facing her overseer's errand boy.

"Yeah, what is it?" she asked, as irreverently as she could make it.

Kakizaki's response was to reach into his pocket and pull out a very well-developed, well-lit photograph of Uzume.

Rather, of Uzume outlined by the moonlight against the stars, bending over a railing, naked breasts in the middle of flopping against it, while Kagedansu had her by the wrists and was drawing his hips back for another slam-dunk against her butt.

"There's something we need to discuss," Kakizaki informed her. "I'm afraid it's _most_ urgent."

Uzume's eyes were wide with shock, and horror. How had they found out? How long had she been followed, both that day and throughout her tenure as his assassin? Who could Higa have possibly gotten that could keep up with a Sekirei? No one except another-

 _Kaiha._

Uzume's hand was around Chiho's bed frame, her grip crushing the metal as she struggled to contain the rancid, boiling fury that was spilling throughout herself. The unknowable toxins of Hametsu's taint returned, no longer blocked by her mind.

"That _bitch…_ "

"Yes, that _would_ be an apt description for her," Kakizaki remarked, nudging his glasses higher on his nose, "but beside the point. The man with you was identified as another Sekirei, Number 67, Kagedansu, self-proclaimed 'Shadow Sekirei'."

"And?" Uzume refused to take her eyes off the floor.

Kakizaki sighed. She was going to be difficult, it seemed. "You and I are well aware of Higa's indifference towards your personal life. What you do on your own time is your own business, so long as you do as you're asked and continue to serve Higa's interests. However, and I'm afraid I must agree with him on this, it seems your personal life is beginning to interfere with your work."

Uzume said nothing, her hand beginning to tremble as it continued to mangle the metal clutched within. In hindsight, Kakizaki should've brought a Sekirei with him, lest Ten do something rash. He resisted the urge to back away; in this close a space, at this particular moment, he was at her mercy, and it wouldn't do to remind her of that.

"You failed to terminate Number 3, twice, and on the second time allowed your identity to be compromised and thus far have made no opportunities to terminate her. Even a phone call while out with her would have sufficed, a chance encounter with some of Higa's Sekirei might not have aroused suspicion."

Uzume continued to say nothing, her cheeks beginning to redden with mounting anger.

"Then, there was Number 9," said Kakizaki, locking his fingers together. "Like Three, you made no attempt to re-engage her after your initial attempt, or coordinate anything with us. We understand that both Three and Nine are single numbers, thus significantly stronger than any other Sekirei you've faced. And there was Six, who interfered with your attack on Nine, likewise understandable as to why you couldn't terminate him."

" _Get to the point_ ," Uzume growled through clenched teeth.

"And I will," Kakizaki replied calmly, thankful Uzume hadn't noticed him twitch at her outburst. "You see, these incidents alone wouldn't be as much concern, if not for your failure to terminate Number 95."

"I told you," Uzume hissed, "take her crest or let her leave, she's still out of Higa's hair."

"That's not the point, No. 10," said a voice from the hallway.

Both Kakizaki and Uzume turned to the newcomer, hands in his pockets and dressed in white business attire, accompanied by a nervous, chesty girl of his own. Neither got a good look at her, as she was standing behind him, but she was not the one they needed to address.

"Sir?" asked Uzume's conversation partner.

Higa stepped in, his Sekirei following close, as he looked right into Uzume's eyes. Higa's were like a lizard's: cold-blooded and without sympathy, just silent calculation.

"Each time you've _given up_ ," he said, emphasizing the last words, "the target in question has connected back to your personal life. Your second attempt at No. 3 came after she was winged, and after you became familiar with her Ashikabi. You had numerous opportunities to attack No. 9 while she was speaking with her would-be partner, but you retreated and haven't engaged her since. That same Ashikabi, Sahashi, I believe his name was, had a vested interest in No. 95's successful escape, which you aided in."

" _And_ ," Higa cut her off before Uzume could speak up, "with two other opponents to occupy him, the most you could deal to No. 67 was a flesh wound. Once more, someone you know."

Uzume's face looked like it was going to morph into a scowl, but her lip began trembling and it turned into a sob. The girl that stood behind Higa peered around his shoulder to see her; her master may have felt nothing for her, but she seemed different, more so from the others.

Higa strode up to her, towering over her as she sat on Chiho's bedside, looking down at her past his nose. "I won't tolerate any more failures," he said sternly. "I believed your lack of trying was due to fear of the targets' power. I see now that you were only using that as an excuse, and that your _real_ reason was that you show sympathy towards them."

Uzume's captor then about-faced away, leaving her somewhere between frustrated, furious and defeated, and stopped as he was about to exit the door.

"Terminate him," Higa said over his shoulder. "Otherwise, find someone else to care for your Ashikabi. Come, Kujou."

And with that, The Ashikabi of the East departed.

Kakizaki stood in his boss's wake, his sight going from the door, to Uzume, then back to the door, then once more to the destitute Sekirei, before departing himself. He told himself that he should check back with Kochou, and see how she was faring against Number 2.

That left Uzume alone, with no one to talk to but her comatose Ashikabi. The brunette said nothing, simply sitting still and stewing in her own despair. What was she supposed to do, refuse Higa's order and have them pull the plug on her Chiho? She could never do that! Even if it _didn't_ mean she'd die, she would never do that to her Ashikabi, not when the last thing Chiho likely experienced was whatever horror Hametsu subjected her to, before he'd shut her inside her own body.

Uzume began to cry, her brow furrowing and her eyes scrunching shut as she wept tears of hopelessness.

"Chiho," she sobbed, exactly as she had in her dream, "I'm sorry."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was around 2 PM the first time No. 67 arrived at the Inn. His appearance didn't go unnoticed, but no one came out to greet him. One with knowledge of the Landlady's parameters would've gleaned where at least _some_ of the tenants were, if the sounds from the back were any indication.

"Weee! Over here, Musubi!" called a petite voice.

"All right, here you go, plants!" came another, this one older but about as mature.

"Come now! Our instructions were to wash the walls, not besoil ourselves with the hose!" snapped a third, the only adult present from the sound of things.

"What?" the second voice retorted cheerfully, and obliviously. "We're fine! We've got our bathing suits on!"

"Doing chores doth not encompass spraying water all over thyselves whilst gardening!"

"… But you have a bathing suit…"

"And she's The Water Sekirei!" the first voice chimed in. "She gets wet all the time!"

"I've a mind to remind thee of why I am called thus," growled the third. "If thou art so eager for a bath…"

"Nah, maybe when we're done. Want me to wash your back?"

Tsukiumi's frustrated screech reached Miya just as Kagedansu happened upon her in the kitchen.

"Hello, Kagedansu-san." She gave a slight nod towards her visitor. "You're much later than usual."

"I slept in," replied The Shadow Sekirei, "but I made it, and that's what counts, right?"

"Slept in, hm?" the landlady's smile grew the slightest bit wry. "I wonder what your pupil might say, if he discovered your morning-"

" _Indeed",_ he speedily said, looking like he was just caught trying to quietly fart without anyone hearing it. " _Onemustwonder._ "

Kagedansu was many things, a majority of them nice, but for all his stealth powers-

"You're terrible at hiding things, Kagedansu-san," the landlady remarked with a smile. And given that Uzume had also come home late this morning, in a far better mood than when she had left, the pieces in Miya's mind began falling into place.

"Heyyyeeee." Kagedansu's backpedaling had carried him all the way to the wall as he tapped his empty left wrist. "Would you look at the time? I should really be _findingMinatorightaboutnow._ "

And then he was gone, forgetting that even without Sekirei hearing, anyone could've heard the sigh of relief explode out of his mouth from the hallway.

"Well I'm happy to see his spirits up again," Miya said to herself. The denials, the hasty exits, the just-good-enough excuses, although far less subtle coming from Kagedansu, reminded the widow of how her husband used to act. At least, at first, when Miya had begun to return his gentle touches while he adjusted her, or when she invited him to stay with her past the operations. A Sekirei he may be, but Kagedansu was now exhibiting the signs of a man smitten with a woman.

 _Takehito… How I wish you could've seen them grow up…_ Miya gently clasped her hands to her chest. _You would have been so happy._

The next few to see Kagedansu were the three ladies out in the back: a child dressed in a cobalt blue one-piece swimsuit, plus two buxom women in bikinis.

"'Scuse me, I was-" The newcomer halted as he averted his eyes from the blonde to the brunette. "Anyone seen Minato?"

"Oh, Minato?" Musubi asked, tugging down on one of the light green triangles covering her modesty. She handed Kusano the hose. "He went inside to wash out the sponges."

"And nearly a half-hour since, he has yet to return" said Tsukiumi, crossing her arms and frowning. "I would hate to think my husband is shirking his responsibilities."

Kusano let out a little "Grrrr, big brotherrrr…" of her own, mirroring Tsukiumi and in the process spraying her with water.

"Ack! Take heed of thy aim, clumsy child!"

Kusano sprayed her again, this time aiming for Tsukiumi's face. The two locked eyes and translucent lightning sparked between them as Kagedansu took another look around the yard. Then he hopped up to the roof, Musubi following close behind.

"What're you looking for?" she asked, then thought for a moment before speaking again. "If you're still looking for Minato, he doesn't come up here very often."

"I have a hunch…" the Shadow Sekirei mused. He then quickly jumped down and got the hose away from Kusano.

"Hey!" the little girl squeaked, before being sprayed with water once more. Then Kagedansu turned the hose on Musubi, nearly causing her to fall over in surprise before she started incessantly giggling. Finally, Kagedansu closed his eyes and gave himself a face-full of water, much to the surprise of Tsukiumi.

"Right," he said, dropping the hose to the ground, water dripping from the tip of his nose. "Now that _that's_ settled, I think I might know where he went."

"Ku, can you go turn off the hose, please?" Musubi asked, one final huff making her enormous chest bounce. Kusano, who had moments before looked ready to cry after being sprayed, grumpily complied, at least satisfied that everyone got what they deserved. Well, everyone except her and Musubi, that is.

Once the spigot had been shut, everyone wiped their feet at the back door and followed Kagedansu upstairs. As they reached the top and proceeded down the hall, Tsukiumi gathered a fairly compelling notion of what Kagedansu was thinking. As they approached Matsu's hidden door, Kagedansu held up a hand and the column halted behind him. Very slowly, he put his ear to the wall and listened. Tsukiumi impatiently wondered why, until she remembered the kinds of things Matsu might be prone to do if she were alone. And, granted, alone she may indeed be.

But if she were, Kagedansu wouldn't have then taken his ear off the wall and gestured for _Tsukiumi_ to proceed instead of him. Which she did, hammering the door around with her hand and getting a full view of her worst nightmare.

They'd found Minato, alright. They'd found him shirtless, on the floor, with a naked Matsu straddling his hips while he had his hands squeezing and twisting her mammaries as lustily as she was panting in response. An equally naked Kazehana had her gigantic breasts flopped down over Minato's eyes, the two women engaged in a game of ring-around-the-rosy with their tongues. Not a kiss, but quite close for Sekirei.

" _MINATO!"_

Minato bolted upright, the bridge of his nose sliding out from Kazehana's cleavage, followed by the rest of his face as Matsu toppled off of him. "Ts-Tsukiumi!"

" _Speaketh not my name, when thou art carrying on with not one but_ _ **two**_ _nude trollops! Didst thou spare a single thought for thy wife?!"_ she squawed, then whipped a finger down at his fellow cavorters as the raven-haired one stood. " _ **And**_ **thou** _ **, Kazehana, wert to assist with the chores!**_ "

"So I got a little sidetracked," she teased flirtatiously. "Can you blame a poor girl?"

" _I most certainly can!_ " Tsukiumi fumed. Kagedansu began slowly backing away behind her. Musubi and Kusano were looking at Minato: the former in perplexity, the latter in less wrathful (if not equally jealous) zeal.

Tsukiumi's husband started waving his hands around.

"No, wait, Tsukiumi, I didn't mean t-" He shook his head. "I only came up to put on a dry shirt, and, um-"

" _Silence!_ " she snapped. " _Thou hadst thy fingers sunk into Matsu's naked bosom, and with Kazehana's thy vision was_ _ **filled!**_ "

Tsukiumi clenched her fist in pure, unchained fury. " _If thou wishest to see breasts…_ "

She then clasped her hands beneath her cleavage, squishing her breasts together as she broke eye contact.

"... then why canst thou not stare at mine?"

A stream of indecipherable gobbledygook came tumbling past Minato's lips as he searched for a suitable answer. Tsukiumi was sporting a blush of her own, the corners of her mouth turned down as she felt more than just her husband's eyes on her. But the two who'd started all of this, still entirely without clothes, were eying one another.

Kazehana, still standing behind her hubby, already had a plan coming together. A glance at Matsu told her The Wisdom Sekirei was on the same wavelength.

Making sure to face the wall so Minato's eyes didn't stray towards her boobs (as much as she liked it when he ogled her), Kazehana slid by while he and Tsukiumi continued to have their lovers' stare-down. As she did so, Matsu motioned to Kagedansu with her hand, a signal that he caught from behind Tsukiumi.

"Right. Whenever you're ready, Minato," he said, walking backwards and hooking the shoulders of Musubi and Kusano. "Come on, troops."

"What? Why?" Musubi asked, though she came along well enough. Ku yipped in protest but was powerless to resist.

This left Kazehana and Matsu free to enact their plan. By now, Kazehana had slid behind Tsukiumi, who was too busy glaring accusingly at Minato to take notice. Matsu kept her eyes firmly on Minato's _wonderful_ hands, tracking their movement as Minato continued to try (and fail) to find his words.

Time seemed to slow for Matsu, a sly grin stretching her ruby lips. As Minato's hands neared alignment, she raised a hand to his back, just below his shoulder blades. Kazehana had finally gotten behind Tsukiumi, and Matsu's movement gave the green light.

Kazehana smiled. "Why stop there?" she asked, before reaching around, grabbing the front of Tsukiumi's bikini top, and yanking it down.

Minato's hands sprang to life in surprise, just as Matsu had predicted. Factoring in distance, timing, and the variables involved in a human body's sudden forward acceleration, a firm push sent Minato towards his self-proclaimed wife.

And landed his hands in perfect squeezing-position on Tsukiumi's tits.

Both Minato and his bikini-clad blonde had their faces fill with red like thermometers; Kazehana and Matsu could practically see the steam rising from them. Small tremors began resonating through Tsukiumi's head and neck, causing her breasts to jiggle in Minato's hands. Minato looked like he'd entered a dungeon chamber only to find a mountain of goodies inside: did he proceed or get out while he still could?

Whatever his choice, Kazehana had faith that he'd make a good one.

"I'll finish changing," she said as she passed the pair of paralyzed persons. "Have fun, Tsukiumi."

Satisfied by their handiwork, Matsu and Kazehana retreated into their respective rooms, waiting either for the yelling to resume or the blue lights to appear.

Downstairs, Musubi agreed that Ku raised a good point: why _doesn't_ Minato stare at Ku's chest like he does everyone else's? Kagedansu washed his hands of the discussion despite Musubi's insistence that he clue them in. After all, Minato didn't stare at _his_ chest, either, and Kagedansu didn't seem to mind. So what was the problem with Ku?

"He just doesn't, okay?" the large Sekirei said.

"But whyyyeee?" Kusano whined.

Kagedansu sighed. "'Cause you're too young, Ku. Give it a few years."

"I-am-not!" she protested.

"Ah boy, here we go…" he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Everyone is always saying I'm too little to know anything!" The Green Girl squeaked. Why can't I?! Why can't Big Brother look at _Ku's_ chest?!"

"How to put this…" Kagedansu pressed his index fingers to the underside of his chin.

"I always thought it's to show that he loves us," Musubi said, prodding her milky flesh with her finger. "That's what Kazehana said, anyway."

"Weeeelllll…" Kagedansu scratched the back of his head and gave a slow shrug. "She wasn't _wrong_ …"

"So why doesn't Big Brother stare at me?!" Ku demanded.

"Because if Minato did whatever you guys are probably talking about," another youthful, feminine voice chimed in, "either Tsukiumi or Miya would kill him, literally."

The trio looked down the hallway to see the penultimate tenant of the Inn stepping through the front door.

"Uzume," Kagedansu said, a slight nod towards her.

"Hey, Kagedansu," she said, a small bit of bashfulness in her cheeks, before diverting her attention to Musubi and Ku. "You guys doing something outside?"

Musubi nodded. "We're washing the back wall. Tsukiumi was helping us, but she's still upstairs talking to Minato."

At that moment, a blue light began shining down the stairwell, and everyone's Sekirei hearing picked up muffled moans.

"Of course she is," Uzume and Kagedansu sarcastically said simultaneously. The two then looked at each other for a moment, then shared a chortle.

"I was actually going to help out, since Minato is otherwise engaged," Kagedansu said. A twinkle entered his eye as he snuck a none-too-subtle glance at Uzume's boobs. "You should join us."

Uzume's eyes shifted over to Musubi, wearing a bikini that was fighting for its life against the bubbly brunette's well-filled endowments, and had to wonder just when, exactly, this idea to volunteer had entered his head.

"I actually need your help with something," she said, readdressing Kagedansu.

"We'll help!" Musubi and Ku's hands shot in the air.

"I thought you were already busy," Kagedansu noted.

"We'll _multitask!_ " Musubi declared.

Uzume smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, guys, but I need someone who's a little more… sneaky."

"I can be sneaky!"

"Me too!" Ku added.

"Yeah," Kagedansu lied, "but are you _this sneaky?!_ " With that, Kagedansu vanished, but not entirely, as they could still make out his silhouette. He ducked his head and jumped over them, taking flight from the back door and disappearing from view.

"That's not sneaky!" Musubi called after him, before chasing after him. "I can still find you!"

"Wait for me!" Ku shouted. Musubi stopped to lift Ku into her arms, as the little girl wasn't strong enough to jump around the rooftops like her older sister Sekirei. Ku hugged herself to Musubi as No. 88, still wearing her tight-fitting bikini, took off in the direction he'd gone.

Uzume sighed. It seemed she'd have to go off and find him now, too. She consoled herself that now, if she were to run into him as The Veiled Sekirei, it would be better than her initial plan. She spun around to leave-

And ran smack into Kagedansu: standing behind her, arms crossed, gigantic shit-eating grin on his face.

"How's _that_?" he asked.

Uzume looked over her shoulder, then towards him again, her brain trying to process what just happened. "How did… How?"

"Through the air, I am He-That-Walks-Unseen," he quoted in English. "It's what I do."

Uzume nodded, beckoning him to follow her. After this was finished, what _she_ would probably do is throw up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, what's this thing you need my help with?" he asked as they touched down on yet another roof. "Because I didn't know we'd be heading this far west."

"I, well…" Truth be told, Uzume hadn't quite thought this through. She'd just needed some way to get Kagedansu and herself out of the house, away from the rest of Izumo Inn, and away from Higa.

"Yeah?" Kagedansu asked, as he neared her in his arc of flight. "You, well, what?"

Uzume landed and turned to face him. She hung her head, more so because she couldn't bear to look at him for what she was about to do. "I… Can't find my Ashikabi."

Silence from him.

Uzume kept her head low, her face hidden. She'd spent weeks gaining his trust. He'd trusted her to see him safely home, knowing that second sake shot would probably knock him out. He'd accepted her offer to sleep in her room and the thought never once crossed his mind that she'd try to terminate him. He'd passed out drunk with three other Sekirei present and he'd trusted _all_ of them to leave his crest be.

If there was one Sekirei naïve enough to buy a bald-faced lie like hers, it was No. 67, Kagedansu.

"Hmmmm…" he mused, raising his hands up out of Uzume's sight. She kept still, though her nerves were frying faster than a fly in a bug zapper. In a moment, he walked past her, out of her sight, and through the wind his footfalls continued for another few steps. Then, they stopped. And they remained stopped for a while.

It was only when Uzume remembered how easily he'd snuck up on her that she spun around. Kagedansu was standing on the edge of the roof, the back of his gi fallen down just enough to reveal a piece of his crest. He had one hand on his hip, the other above his brow like he'd just snapped a salute.

"What's he look like again?" asked The Shadow Sekirei.

 _Smack_.

As if his faith wasn't enough, he was taking his trust to puppy-dog levels. Might as well have been a slap in the face, as far as Uzume was concerned.

"It's a she, actually," Uzume said, forcing herself to smile.

Kagedansu swung around to gawk at her. His eyes rolled up, then sideways, then this way, then that, his eyebrows also going this way, then that, in ways Uzume hadn't thought eyebrows could move.

"Wait-… Then-… So you…" Kagedansu lowered his arms. "What the hell were you doing with me, then?"

Still forcing herself to smile, Uzume said, "What? I'm flexible." She leaned forward seductively. "You of all people should know that, Kagedansu."

He nodded. "That I do. So, what's she look like, then?"

Uzume walked over beside him. "She's a little shorter than me, with long blonde hair and probably wearing a pink hat." _If her old photos are still up-to-date,_ Uzume silently added. "She's 15."

"And where'd you last see her?"

"I already checked there," Uzume lied. "I don't know where she might've gone. She likes to shop around here, but there's a lot of stores to cover."

"Right," said Kagedansu. "I got it: I'll stay up here and keep watch for a bit, see if she comes out anywhere. Meanwhile, you go down and start checking the shops, on our side of the street in case she comes out. Meet back in-"

"A half-hour," Uzume finished for him. When she caught his frown of disbelief, she added, "What? Us girls like to look at things before we buy."

He grumbled some sarcastic question about boys not doing the same, then swept an arm past her. "Your show, you're the boss."

The brunette Sekirei nodded and hopped down, falling three stories before landing amidst the stupefied civilians. She then dashed down a nearby drive, moving between the buildings past where Kagedansu stood. She had a half-hour, to make sure there were no other Sekirei around and to stash her clothes. After that, it would be time for The Veiled Sekirei to claim her next victim.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uzume swept the area for miles around, sticking to the ground and hiding behind skyscrapers where she could. It seemed Sanada Nishi was somewhere else today: none of those kids he rode with were fooling around anywhere.

She made sure to check back frequently, to make sure Kagedansu hadn't wandered off or otherwise abandoned his post. Not that he'd just ditch her out of the blue, he was too sweet a guy, but if another Sekirei got past Uzume or Kagedansu thought he saw Chiho…

 _Well, if he_ does _see Chiho, then either I finally get that miracle or-_

She stopped herself. _He_ was a nightmare she didn't want to think about, not when there was enough on her mind already.

When at last her time ran out, the brunette tossed away her belly top and jeans, her white veils encircling her once again. Approaching from the east, The Veiled Sekirei soared from a nearby apartment complex and landed opposite her target. He had his back to her, surveying the street below.

"Sixty-Seven," she said. The Shadow Sekirei looked over his shoulder, meeting her gaze through the pale cloth that shrouded her face.

Again, his response was silence. He merely turned to face her, his yellow eyes narrowing slightly as he looked her down and up.

"You already know my number," he said, spreading his knees, "but I still don't know yours."

"Ten," was all she said. He'd forgotten, or misheard, that time Number 101 had mentioned her number. It seemed like another lifetime, that battle for ownership of The Fire Sekirei.

"Oh, yeah," he said, recalling now. He raised his fists, then opened his fingers slightly. "You got a name to go with that number?"

"No," she said.

Her opponent shrugged, his contemptuous look remaining. "Of course not."

She was wary of the blinding speed at which he could move, meaning she was already strafing to the side as he rushed her. Their feet touched the ground at the same time, and they repeated their movement, Sixty-Seven dancing on the edge of the roof as The Veiled One circled inward. She shot a white harpoon at him, anticipating his next charge, but likewise he'd already shifted tactics. His leap was half as long as the previous two, more like a step, and his next step carried him to the side.

 _Here_ was where he lunged, with a right-cross like a comet careening towards her face. The assassin bobbed under it, her veils fluttering from the wind of its passage and closing around his wrist. She tried to use his momentum to pull him onto a congealing spike, but his arm locked and refused to budge. So instead she launched the spike point-blank. One hand unbound, he merely slapped it aside.

The Veiled Sekirei started a little, at how casually he'd done that. A duck, a turn-aside, maybe trapping it under his arm, but she never expected something so… _cold._

The split-second lapse in her rhythm gave him the advantage. Using his bound hand, he swung it between them and turned them back-to-back. His elbow met her in the back of her head, stunning her and causing her veils to loosen up. But he wasn't done yet, it seemed, for he took her by the wrist with his now-free hand and yanked them back around, his leg following with a vicious roundhouse kick to her hip.

The pain shooting through The Veiled One's right side was enough to shatter her stupor. When 67 drew back to kick her in the front, not even resetting his leg before doing so, she swept a veil around like a mace and chain to take his other foot out from under him. Her white servants formed another drill-like point at her hand, but her prone foe corkscrewed himself to kick it away.

Tucking his knee to his chest, The Shadow Sekirei swept himself to his feet. The Veiled Sekirei met him with a tangled maelstrom of flapping white, not giving him an opening to attack. Against the swirling vortex of death, he backed up. It was slow, as he kept both feet on the ground, but The Shadow Sekirei was definitely retreating. The white-clad monster advanced a step, then another, subtly closing the distance between them, two tendrils detaching from her back and stealthily winding down to her hips.

The back of his ankle touched the rim of the rooftop, and she almost lashed out, but held on to her ace.

And it was good that she did, because like the hair-trigger on a rifle he went off, leaping back to the next rooftop and engaging his active camouflage. She never let her eyes leave him, following his shimmering silhouette through the air. He touched down behind a large ventilation shaft, on the sunny-side, and was out of her view. She landed in front of it, having aimed to keep herself out of his reach.

She kept her distance, allowing him to make the next move. Moments passed. Nothing happened. He couldn't have gone down it, the duct would've been opened in front of her eyes. The urge to charge was fought back; patience was something she knew 67 more than possessed. Or, at least, once upon a time.

Warily, her veils snaked along the sides of the vent unit, hugging it, looking like some invisible hand was dragging a paintbrush across the metal. Right as it reached the corner, the tendrils snapped shut around the final side and crushed the shaft like a soda can.

No scream, no resistance, no body. The Shadow Sekirei had somehow slipped away.

The crumbling concrete alerted her. 67 had pushed off the opposite lip of the roof. He must have fled in a straight line away from her, using the vent to hide his body. The ambient sounds of the city, as he demonstrated at the Inn, were more than enough to hide his footfalls.

And now he was rocketing towards her, needing only one step to correct his course.

He was too slow; the veiled mercenary greeted him with a wall of thorns. A second step was taken on his part: to roll down beneath, then up, smashing a fist into her abdomen. Number 10 had only a shred of warning and in twisting her body aside, she got away with a shot to the underside of her ribs.

God _damn_ did it hurt! If this was the price to avoid a gory hole punched through her guts, it almost didn't seem worth it! The Veiled One doubled over, rolling back as he swung again, the morning star of his fist whooshing over her head. The wind of its passage caused her shroud to come loose, and as she finished her back-roll, she paused a moment to readjust it.

Now, from half-a-dozen meters away, her opponent was eying her, the windows to his soul narrow as the wheels in his head started turning. He lowered his hands but kept his legs bent, his reaction time more than enough to evade at medium range. The Veil was grateful for the respite, though she could never let her opponent know that.

Now he was slowly raising his hands again, his fingers opened instead of their usual closed fists. An idea had breached his braincase, and The Veiled Sekirei had to wonder just what kind of scheme her yellow-eyed adversary had.

He charged, hopping from one foot to the other in a zigzag, too rapidly to attack him. Instead she gave him the red carpet treatment, two veils unrolling from her hip on either side of his path. To her bewilderment, he didn't alter course. The edges of the non-existent carpet chased him from their tips, snaking towards his back and hardening into rectangular blades.

But that still left her open, as she ducked a quick one-two swipe before he whirled away, his hand clawing for her face. She danced opposite, though his fingers still hooked on her veil and would've pulled it off. She was thankful that her weapons left her hands free for more mundane things, those same weapons chasing him down. He jumped forward between them and ran his fingers along the sides, clamping around where the cleavers ended and the softness began.

So gripped, he pulled her towards him, turning sideways. She was quicker, her high-heeled stiletto catching him in the right arm. He winced, and she flicked her leg to toe-kick him in the jaw. He tried for an upward open-palm to her face, but she swayed aside. Though doing so almost gave her away, as his fingertips nicked the edge of the veil that hid her face.

It was like this that her veils caught him like a boa constrictor, wrapping around his body as he wriggled and writhed to break free. His elbows jutted out and his knees did so as well, but the most they did was allow him to breathe. He looked like an embalmed corpse: all that were missing were the ankhs and scarabs. He'd need them, because it was time to end this.

Through force of her will, the white that trapped him forced him around, his arms and legs still pushing against his cocoon. The deadly bandages parted around his back, a quick slice from another tendril opening his gi and exposing his black crest. She reached out to touch it-

And the next thing she knew she was staring at 67's chin, his limbs now wrapped tight and his torso having spun 180-degrees to face her. And then she was taking a vicious headbutt to her hairline, sending her senses reeling. She felt something snag on to her cover and pull on it, still aware enough to keep hold. Through the haze, she saw the gold-capped shape tear free of its bindings, then taking two of them and tangling them together.

Sufficiently tangled, it grabbed the mess and swung her around. She came around just in time to feel herself crash to a wall.

She slid off, and fell, down to the filthy alley below. Suddenly she stopped, the whiplash from halting so suddenly shoving an ache into her neck, and making her injured ribs whine in pain. She saw the cause of it: her foe hadn't just tangled those tendrils, but tied them into a knot, and it was caught on the corner of the stone rooftop above.

She quickly swung herself around, and good thing, for she barely missed her enemy's double-footed flying-stomp. He landed amongst a few startled civilians, who were already starting to panic and flee. Time seemed to slow as he careened past, his two yellow orbs catching the tendrils that were snaking down her legs. Through her hooded gaze, she saw his flailing hand swiping at her veil, but she moved her head back in time.

Her veil.

That's what he was after.

That white shroud, thanks to the MBI satellites, was her only shield against The Discipline Squad. She'd been lucky, when Kazehana had unmasked her, that Minaka hadn't been looking for The Veiled Sekirei yet. If she lost her fluttering mask in the open again, she might as well take her own crest, save them the trouble.

Twisting her body towards the wall, shielding her face from his gaze below, The White One hoisted herself to the ledge. Ducking out of his sight, she pulled the knot to herself and examined it. No doubt about it: that was a fine mess he'd made of it; she was surprised he hadn't tied up his hands in this tangled hedge.

Her only recourse was to cut it loose, quite literally. She did her best to make a clean slice, but cloth-on-cloth, even while hard, didn't yield the neatest of slices. She inhaled, closing her eyes as her ribs groaned in agony, and prepared to rejoin him below.

That was when she felt a hand grab the top of her veil along with a handful of her hair.

Instantly her hands clamped around her skull, his overwhelming strength nearly pulling her off her feet.

Under his breath, his low baritone next to her ear, he snarled, "This is for all the others _, you_ _ **bitch**_."

Another fist smashed into her previously uninjured ribs. The Veiled One hacked a cough as the air was shocked from her lung. Then that fist hit her again, and again, and again and again as she struggled to breathe. Her opponent wouldn't let her: each time she gasped for air he only struck her harder.

She tossed and turned but his hands wouldn't budge, beating on her ribcage like an upside-down meat carcass. It was then that she realized: he didn't care about the veil. He didn't care why she wore it or what it might hide. All he needed to know, it seemed, was that she would focus her efforts on protecting it if he tried to take it off. Because now that he had her, he was content to pulverize her lung until she drowned in its liquefied remains.

It was time.

The white strips she had tucked away on her back unleashed their rage upon their mistress's attacker, slashing his gi to ribbons and tearing at the skin on his chest and arms. She couldn't see; she didn't have to see. All _she_ needed to know was that her target was behind her, and he was standing still.

She felt the fist that held her shroud begin to tug harder. The tendrils that tore at his top now circled his waist; more descended from her legs to continue their butchery. Her white cross-top ascended from her neck to trap 67's arm, ensuring that he couldn't pull away even if he wanted to.

A palm slammed into her back, right between her shoulder blades. It was the hardest she'd ever been hit: harder, even, than the shots to her ribs. The shock from it caused her entire body to seize or a moment along with her weapons, and the hand continued to drive into her until she'd been shoved away.

Uzume stumbled forward, eyes closed as the vertigo pummeled her full-force, a cool sensation cast about her head and chest. At first, she thought it was leftover shock messing with her senses, but as she saw her veils swaying around her arms and legs, she realized what she was feeling was a breeze.

He vision cleared fully and she squinted as the sun's rays hit her eyes, unfiltered by her veil.

"Oh no." She spoke her thoughts aloud.

Her breathing was ragged; The Now-Unveiled Sekirei hoped her lung hadn't collapsed. Awkwardly, but nevertheless wary, she about-faced towards her enemy.

Kagedansu merely stood there, bleeding bright red from the deep gashes in his chest. His shoulders were slack, his eyes wide in horrified disbelief, the veil in his right hand fluttering between his lax fingers before slipping free and blowing away in the wind. Those same yellow eyes followed it as it departed the rooftop, before swinging back to stare at her.

" _No…"_

The unveiled Uzume remained unmoved as Kagedansu raised his hand to his face and looked at it. He mouthed words, but from how little his lips moved, Uzume couldn't tell if they were Japanese or English.

She allowed him this; the more time he wasted on wrapping his brain around this whole thing, the more time she had to recover.

" _Why?_ " he whispered. "Uzume… Why would you _do_ something like this?"

"Sekirei fight until there's only one," she retorted harshly. "That's the name of the game, isn't it?"

Kagedansu began to tear up; his lip started to tremble.

"You're right," he admitted, his voice shaking. "It is."

The big man sunk to his knees, arms hanging by his side.

 _What's he playing at now?_ Uzume thought.

The blood on his chest was mixing with the tears dripping from his jaw. She locked her chocolate-brown eyes with his own luminous yellow. Her ironclad stare was met with a pink-eyed look of complete and total anguish, not a shred of hostility left. It was completely gone.

Uzume felt a small clench welling up in her throat. One side of her lip twitched. She couldn't show weakness. This wasn't the first Sekirei who'd given her that look; she never let it get to her.

Kagedansu's throat muscles shifted as he choked back a sob. "Go on…" He nodded over his shoulder. " _Do_ it."

The Sekirei that was once veiled blinked, trying to shut out those eyes that were boring straight through her heart. It didn't work: as soon as she could see again, Kagedansu's sad stare of surrender remained.

 _I have to,_ she told herself. _For Chiho's sake._

She took a step forward. It felt like someone had shackled cinderblocks to her feet.

 _It's either him or Chiho. What choice do I have?_

That was when her beloved Chiho's visage repeated those same fateful words in her mind.

 _No one can have just one person in their life._

She shook her head, but that feeling in her throat had risen to her face, and the tension was leaking down her cheeks from her eyes.

 _Be strong, Uzume,_ she told herself. _You can do this. You ca-… You_ have _to do this._

Those two eyes of his were nearly shut with despair, as he let out one, final, mournful scream.

" _ **DO IIIIIIIIT!**_ "


	54. Show Them No Fear, Show Them No Pain

**Author's comment:**

Saaay, anyone catch that latest episode of Samurai Jack? You know, the one where Gennedy showed that he had more or less the same diabolical idea for romance that I did?

For the people of the future, that episode is Season 5, Episode 9, first aired on May 9, 2017. That chapter you just finished reading, in comparison, was published on May 2, 2017. Never have I been so pleased... To have had _absolutely nothing_ to do with something.

And on said idea, I _swear_ on me great-grandmother's grave, this is the LAST consecutive chapter with Uzume's romantic drama. I wanted to hold off on it. I wanted put a buffer chapter in between. I wanted to let some of tension unwind, like the in my right lateral.

But then I settled on the chapter title and went, "Do-oh, it's just too freakin' _PERFECT_ to not put here!"

* * *

 **Chapter 54: Show Them No Fear, Show Them No Pain**

" _Minato…_ "

The former college failure knew he was in hot water now, what with Kazehana's attire leaving her practically naked.

"Can't we take a break?" The Wind Sekirei playfully whined, having draped herself across Minato's bare back, hanging on to his chest with her arms. "Chores like this can be _sooo_ exhausting…"

A spherical mass of water splashed against Kazehana's face, as warm as the spring air surrounding them.

"Consider thyself refreshed," Tsukiumi harrumphed.

Kazehana dislodged her bikini-clad body from Minato and allowed him to go on sponging the wall. She flipped her dripping bangs back over her head and spread her arms, a gust of wind billowing through her hair. Tsukiumi raised a wary eyebrow at such a display, doubly suspicious since Minato gazed not at her sister-rival, but at the still-very-smaragdine wall. Surely, Kazehana woult have saved such a display to tempt Tsukiumi's husband; 'twas her way as "Ms. Public Obscenity", as she'd overheard Miya dub her. A fitting name, to be sure.

"Aaaahh…" Kazehana let out a satisfied sigh, running her hands back across her salwan locks, all the way to her violet hair tie. "That felt nice. Thanks for the rinse, Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi decided _not_ to fume at her gesture backfiring, refusing to give the older Sekirei the satisfaction.

"Thou art welcome," said The Water Sekirei, with such a tone as to imply a much less courteous notion.

Her water powers came in handy once Minato had scrubbed the green from of the walls, rinsing off the suds and washing the detritus down the drainage ditch. A handy thing for maintenance, and it doubled as flood-control, should a rainstorm attempt to drown the nearby flowerbeds. It seemed the inn's original owner, Miya's deceased husband, a former researcher at MBI, had taken care to include his wife's love of gardening while laying out the architecture. Tsukiumi hoped that Minato would be as considerate, once she won The Sekirei Plan and they could move out of the Inn.

It was then that Tsukiumi recalled that MBI's first chief scientist, Takehito, had also perished prior to the start of The Plan. She wondered…

"K-Kazehana?"

Tsukiumi was brought out of her reverie by her husband's stutter, and one of Kazehana's more ludicrous displays. The Wind Sekirei had secured her own sponge, and in a move that struck Tsukiumi as more strange than erotic, was squeezing all the suds and water on to herself, _covering_ her body and _obscuring_ her form.

"Thou art…" Her eyes drifted to Minato, who was staring at Number Three in wide-eyed bewilderment. His eyes trailed up and down Kazehana's body, following the path the suds left from her flat stomach up through her cleavage.

Kazehana caught that look he was giving her. "See a problem, Minato?" she asked coyly.

"W-… It's just-" he swallowed audibly, glancing at Tsukiumi before returning to Kazehana. "That water's-"

"Dirty?" Kazehana finished for him, lustily narrowing her eyes and curling her lips into a smile. "So what does that make me?"

Minato's eyes finished wandering and fixated upon the suds, trailing down between her enormous breasts and etching the voluptuous curvature into his mind. All blood was leaving his common sense and gathering elsewhere. There, once the opposing parties of the Reds and the Whites participated in many rounds of debating, discussing, deliberating, drinking, shouting, cursing, threatening, barfighting, and hungover groaning, a consensus was finally reached.

 _So round... So big… So_ perfect _._

Tsukiumi's growl broke his reverie; he'd said at least one of those phrases out loud.

An image of much younger Yukari playing with him in the woods flashed before Minato's eyes, followed by his first attempt at soccer while in primary school. Then his high school education, followed by his first attempt at the Tokyo U entrance exams. He began to turn towards his blonde Sekirei, his male eyes naturally following the curves of her body down to the valley between _her_ breasts. The black bikini against her fair skin suited her well; for some reason he found the metal ring holding her top together to make it slightly more alluring than a simple string.

And then it was all gone, replace by the sight of Kazehana's face thrusting towards his own.

She caught his mouth, then his tongue, and her legs left the ground to grip his sides. Her pink wings flared out behind her, and she pressed her breasts against his shirtless chest in an effort to touch as much of him as possible, bikini or no.

The sudden change in balance sent Minato stumbling back against the wall, Kazehana planting her feet and pseudo-straddling him as he began to slide down the wall. The surprise in his eyes had dimmed to simple contentment, though he felt Kazehana's grip on his arms and the soft pressure against his chest grow a little more desperate.

Even when a deluge of water came crashing down on them, Kazehana clung to her man. She wouldn't let him go _that_ easily.

"Filthy woman." Tsukiumi's jealous glare burned into Minato's eye sockets, even though she wasn't looking at him directly. "What thou needest is a shower."

Kazehana opened an eye to glance at Tsukiumi, before parting lips with Minato. He let out a small sigh, the breath escaping his mouth, and then Kazehana was right back to kissing him. That eye which had glanced at Tsukiumi now rolled back in orgasmic pleasure, the back lawn bathed in pink for a second time.

Tsukiumi was, by now, absolutely livid. "He. Is. _Mine_ , thou harlot," she seethed, her teeth clenched as a much harder, deadlier ball of water began forming around her taught, clawed fingers.

Now this _did_ make The Wind Sekirei part from her hubby, as she gently pushed off of him to square off against Tsukiumi.

"You know, _Nine_ ," Kazehana said, a hint of hostility entering her syrupy voice, "ever heard of a thing called 'sharing'?"

"One doth not 'share' one's spouse, _Three_ ," Tsukiumi retorted. "And thou art one to lecture me on my behavior, when thou wert the one adultering with my husband."

"Oh, but he's not your husband," said Kazehana, the final pretense of teasing dropping from her features as a wind began picking up around the yard. "He's mine."

"We shall see, when thou art lying beaten before me."

" _Stop it!_ "

The two of them started, and glanced over at Minato, who had recovered from Kazehana's kiss and was now jogging out in between them.

"Look," he said, turning his attention to Tsukiumi, "I get it."

Then, to Kazehana. "Both of you want to be my w-" He stopped as the word caught in his throat. " _Wife_."

What was up with that? Minato's tall body obscured them from each other, but both Sekirei were sharing the same worried thought.

"And, believe me, any other guy would _kill_ for girls like you two to fight over him. But-"

He stopped. Once more, the words caught in his throat, and that fire that had been lit beneath him dwindled. Where before he stood tall, almost imposing, with a look that both unnerved but also excited the two women, he seemed to shrink, returning to that skinny schoolboy that they'd seen when they each first encountered him.

"Just please don't kill each other, okay?" he sighed. "We have enough problems already."

 _Fwap!_

Tsukiumi flinched upon the impact and rubbed the top of her head, the spatula Miya wielded having struck her just behind her bangs.

"The yard is still part of my inn, and therefore subject to my rule against violence," the Landlady told them.

Kazehana chuckled under her breath. "That's what you get for throwing a hissy fit," she muttered, her mocking tone returning a little.

 _Fwap!_

"I am not hard of hearing, Kazehana," Miya stated pertly, before taking her spatula back inside.

"Hmph, serves thy lewdness right," Tsukiumi huffed.

"What? Minato likes it. Right, Mina-kun~?"

Minato shrunk back. "Guys, can we _not_ start this again?!"

Tsukiumi nodded towards her husband. "Even _he_ knows better, despite his tempestuous faith in his wife."

"Hey! Come on, Tsukiumi, don't be like that!"

The Water Sekirei ignored him. "Tell me, Three: doth the word 'restraint' mean something to thee?"

"Yeah." Kazehana clasped her hands above her head and leaned back, stretching whilest showcasing her two enormous assets. "It's something I keep on the broil for fights, cooking, and pretty much nothing else."

The next moment, The Wind Sekirei smiled. "Still got my top on, don't I?"

"Not if thy ways were law of the land," Tsukiumi shot back, glancing over to see Minato ogling the other woman's bosom.

Kazehana chuckled. "You'd be surprised."

A tic mark appeared on Tsukiumi's forehead. "If thou seekest my husband's attentions-"

"You mean _my_ husband," Kazehana interjected.

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT! _ENOUGH_ _ALREADY!_ " Minato shrieked. He turned around, marched up to Tsukiumi, placed his hands over her ears and pulled her into a kiss. Tsukiumi squirmed a little but ultimately relented, her tongue cautiously entering his mouth to kiss him back. He tasted… _wrong._ That usual sweetness that came with the emergence of her wings felt bitter and dull, like an unripe banana. Perhaps that was why she made no attempt to keep him when he pulled away.

"Fair is fair!" he cried, a crack in his voice from straining it. "Now I'm going inside, and if _anyone_ terminates anyone else…"

He took a deep breath, then blurted out, " _Then they can just_ _ **stop being my Sekirei!**_ "

And so he turned around and marched back inside, leaving his self-proclaimed wives standing in their bikinis, gawking, and utterly stupefied. Those words, with that tone, coming from that man, were utterly unbelievable. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neither of them really knew how much time had passed when a third bikini-wearing girl came soaring out of the skies to touch down in the middle of the yard. Her hard landing made her feet sink into the mud, so much so that the small child that clung to her back had to hop off and ask the nearby beech tree to lend her a branch.

"Ah, thanks Ku!" Musubi said, stepping over the two new holes in the yard.

"And?" Kusano said, crossing her arms.

Musubi tilted her head She already said "thank you" (well, she didn't say "thank you" _exactly_ , but she was pretty sure Ku didn't mind), so what did the little girl want her to do?

" _Aaaaaand?!"_ she repeated, her lips pursed in an effort imitate Tsukiumi's usual angry look.

"Oh, right!" Musubi turned to the nearby beech and bowing her head. "And thank _you_ , Mr. Tree!"

Ku unclenched her face and nodded. "The tree says, 'You're welcome', but it wants you to know that it wasn't nice for you to forget about it so fast."

"I know," Musubi sighed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm sorry."

That was when the two girls noticed that the two women were still coping with their shock.

"What's wrong, guys?" Musubi asked. No response.

"Maybe they saw a really big bug," Kusano whispered into 88's ear.

"You think they're trying to catch it?" Musubi whispered back.

"Eeeww!" Kusano addressed her two elders and raised her voice. "You guys are _gross!_ "

Kazehana and Tsukiumi didn't hear. They slowly turned to look at each other, finally closing their mouths, before walking inside, silent as the grave.

Minato saw them head upstairs, not making eye contact with them, not even sneaking a peek at their unmasked cleavage. No _way_ was he letting them off, not even a little.

Passing them, though, was another familiar face, trying just as hard to not meet their gaze.

"Uzume?" Minato un-sat himself from the front step and turned towards the door. She met him at the frame, where she was halted by him placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

The shadow of her bangs obscured her eyes a little, but he could still see her slightly trembling smile. "Yeah… Everything's fine. I just… Need to get away for a while."

"What do you mean?" he inquired, releasing her shoulder.

She suddenly looked at him. "Hey, Minato? If I were to suddenly disappear out of the blue, would you look for me?"

The former _ronin_ frowned a little. "What do you mean? I mean, _yeah_ , I'd look for you. I'm pretty sure everyone here would look for you."

"That's what friends are for," said another voice, this one belonging to Homura, dressed in a loose-hanging button shirt and slacks.

"Friends," Uzume repeated. "Yeah, kind of a stupid question now that I think about it. You sure it's not because you're the Sekirei Guardian?"

"I'm not the Guardian anymore," said Homura. "All the- Well, actually I am, but that's beside the point."

Uzume sighed, then turned to the two in the door and slung an arm around each, pulling them close. "That means a lot guys. Thanks. But…"

Her grip on them got a little tighter, and her chin came to rest between their shoulders. "Don't, okay?"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'don't'?" Homura asked.

Minato was equally worried as Uzume hopped off of them and began making her way towards the sidewalk.

"If there's something on your mind, let's talk about it!" the Ashikabi called after her.

They couldn't see it, but Uzume had a weary smile branded on to her face, forcing herself not to cry. At the front gate, she screwed her eyes shut and her brisk walk turned into a run.

The two men's eyes followed her until she had disappeared behind a nearby insula. They then looked at each other, before Homura's eyes widened a little and he quickly made his way back inside. Despite Uzume's cryptic warning, Homura's behavior worried the Ashikabi as well.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was almost evening when Kakizaki got the call.

"She is?" he asked. The voice on the other end confirmed it, then gave him a very specific set of instructions. "Understood. I'll make sure of it, sir."

A "click" sounded on the other end. Once more, Higa was giving him a rather tricky task, lest Number 10 catch on to the truth. "It wouldn't do for my bishop to be taken off the board from lack of… enthusiasm." Kakizaki understood, but he also understood, that Higa understood, that said enthusiasm might cause 10 to snap and just run Kakizaki through, damn the consequences. Luckily, Higa had allowed plenty of time for the Sekirei to grow close to her Ashikabi before approaching with his ultimatum. She loved that Hidaka girl too much to do anything stupid.

Sighing, he got up from his desk. He made a small detour to head Kochou off at the pass, Kakizaki's Sekirei still slaving away at keeping 10's profile hidden from the so-called "Wisdom" Sekirei. Not very wise if she still hadn't figured out the way Kochou was keeping her out. It was rather ingenious, actually. Nevertheless, keeping up the blockade was a tiring, thankless job, and so Kakizaki popped in to her isolated office to give her a word of appreciation, a kiss to light her Norito, and a quick squeeze of the left breast. Suddenly, Kochou didn't seem as fatigued, and Kakizaki was even graced with a small smile from her.

But he knew he was just stalling for time, and it wouldn't be very professional to continue.

So, one elevator ride later, he was at the bottom floor, walking through the automatic doorways to greet Number 10, as per usual.

10's lip wrinkled in scorn when she saw who had come to greet her.

"I told your boss I wanted to see _him_ ," she said, a scowl forming on her (admittedly) lovely features.

"Higa-sama has more important things to do with his time. And besides which-" he held up a hand as it looked like 10 was about to non-lethally accost him. "As his secretary, it is my duty to see those who wish to speak with him, and determine whether they might be allowed to. I'm afraid Higa-sama simply does not want to see you right now."

10's eyes narrowed. She looked up, at the smooth mirrored surface running along the sides of the hospital. Her Sekirei eyes could see those areas where the light passed through the one-way windows, revealing which hid rooms and which were simply fancy walling.

"Now," Kakizaki began, "regarding your fight with 67 and your task to eliminate him-"

"I don't need your lecture," Ten said, moving past him. "I'll just go find a doctor and tell them to unplug Chiho."

Kakizaki raised an eyebrow at this. "You realize what moving Hidaka-san will mean for her, yes?"

"Of course I do," replied the Sekirei, stopping. "But if Higa's going to cut us loose anyway, what choice do we have?"

"Indeed," Kakizaki said, giving a slight nod. He paused, letting the tension build, but also trying to get a feel for what was going on in Ten's head. She seemed awfully quick to let herself drown, without so much as a plea or an appeal. And that put the well-seasoned secretary a little on edge.

"However," he continued, opting to cast the die anyway, "if you were to make your case to Higa-sama, he might be persuaded to retain your services."

Uzume looked over her shoulder, at the back of Kakizaki's head. "Are you serious?"

"On the other hand," said the secretary, "it _is_ a rather troubling thing you did, and I wouldn't be surprised if Higa-"

" _Can it_ ," Uzume snapped, before she shoved him aside and dashed into the hospital. A very terrified desk clerk was persuaded to reveal which floor, exactly, Higa's office was located on. Persuaded at the end of a drill-like barb of white cloth, that is. The fabric slipping back beneath Uzume's sleeves, she didn't bother with the elevator. The stairwell's locking mechanism was smashed and the door wrenched open as more cloth slithered from Uzume's jeans to grasp at the metal railings.

Her ascent was almost halted when Kaiha showed up to ruin her already-bad mood, something the psychotic Sekirei took great delight in. She appeared on one side of the stairwell to slice through Uzume's veil that clung to the railing. Her mistake, because those veils were like spider's web: their spinner could feel the vibrations of disturbance. This meant that Uzume was able to shimmy aside when Kaiha took a swing at her neck with those giant half-scissors she wore on her arms.

A wad of veil flew into Kaiha's eyes, before tangling itself around her head like a frenzied turban gone rogue. While she struggled to get it off with her hands sheathed in her shears, Uzume continued on.

Floor 13. How appropriate.

It was a simple key-lock, easily picked with a hardened veil in place of a plastic card. Ironically, luck was on her side at the moment, for a janitor was busy vacuuming the carpeted hallway.

Uzume's face put aside its simmering hatred for Higa, and adopted a more "innocent party-girl" look.

"Excuse me!" she called sweetly, the janitor a man in his early 50s and not used to having pretty young girls talk to him like that. She had him in an instant. "Could you tell me which office is Higa-sama's? I can't remember where to go."

The man dumbly nodded and gave her the office number. Uzume made a mental note to make sure he wasn't fired for "helping out a valued customer".

Subtlety was still her friend for the entrance, into the antechamber where she assumed Kakizaki usually worked, but not the actual door to Higa's office.

She kicked the door in and found another Sekirei, the same one who'd accompanied Higa to Uzume's room, waiting for her. The black ribbons sprang to life around the girl's sleeves, but these tiny shreds were no match for Uzume's well-honed control of her veils. This other Sekirei was swatted aside, pinned to the wall by a pair of Uzume's tendrils, like giant white staples.

She still had plenty for Higa, twisting yet another veil into a barb and shooting it at him. This missed him by a hair's breath, spearing through the expensive leather on that wheeled office chair he sat in. Higa didn't even blink.

That same barb now unformed into a knot in the wall as Uzume pulled herself up on to Higa's desk. With her free hand, she grabbed her jailor by the collar of his suit and pulled him up, letting him dangle like a worm on a hook.

"We need to talk."

Higa finally blinked, though not from anxiety. "Indeed we do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato had migrated to the front step, keeping the door closed behind him and fully prepared to take off should _either_ of his self-proclaimed "wives" try to talk to him. No! They weren't _allowed_ to talk to him right now! He put up with their bickering because he cared for them all and knew they just wanted his attention like the rest of his Sekirei, but starting a fight over a stupid kiss?

And he made a mental note that if they ever heard him say that, he would _not_ let them lecture him about it.

"… Husband?"

Minato sprang to his feet but a hand clasped his shoulder, as such his mad dash turned into a mad pivot-in-place.

It was _those two_ , out of their bikinis and in their normal wear. Minato took _extra_ care that his eyes didn't drift towards anyone's cleavage.

"We…" Tsukiumi looked away. Even Kazehana was deprived of her usual happy flair, as she nudged Tsukiumi from behind. Had Minato not remained fixated on their faces he might've caught it.

"We've come to apologize," the Water Sekirei finally said. She gave a slight bow with her head. "Twas improper of us to behave as we did, and we beg thy forgiveness."

" _No._ "

Tsukiumi's head jerked back up to look at her husband, and while Kazehana didn't bow _nearly_ as noticeably, she still flinched at this steel-coated brick wall of a response.

"What?" the two women uttered simultaneously.

"I said no!" Minato cried, clenching his fists. "I'm not forgiving you just-like-that! You two already got a pass from the _last_ time you almost fought each other! _And that was when only_ one _of you was my Sekirei!_ "

"But we didn't fight this time either, did we?" Kazehana asked.

" _No._ "

Kazehana flinched again, realizing some cockiness had contaminated her earnesty.

"You two," Minato said, leveling fingers at the two women before him, "almost got into a fight over a stupid kiss."

" _Stupid?!_ " Another same-time utterance.

" _I'm not finished!_ " Minato snapped. Whatever they were about to say to him was smashed aside. " _Almost_ is still too close, alright? What… What if it had been somewhere else, some place with no one to step in? What if I'd just done what I _almost_ did and gone back inside, thinking you two might cool down with me out of the picture? I know better now! I imagine what would've happened is something like how Musubi _almost_ died fighting during the bridge escape, or how Kagedansu was _almost_ killed by that... _thing_ , Hametsu!"

He folded his arms, and finished them off with, "I've had enough times where something _almost_ happened. I can put up with the arguing, the shouting, and those times where you play tug-of-war with my arms! But I'm drawing the line here: you two, and anyone else for that matter, are _done_ fighting over me."

Numbers Three and Nine shifted uncomfortably where they stood on their feet, looking down at said feet. They wanted to be anywhere else right now, a first considering they were about four feet from their Ashikabi.

Kazehana spoke up again. "I want to make that promise, Minato; _really_ , I do…"

She found her courage and met his gaze. It was like twisting a knife her guts, that face he wore.

"But sooner or later, we'll all have to fight. Only one Sekirei can win the Plan."

"Well _tough_ ," was all he said, startling her for a third time.

There was silence, for a moment.

Then, a slow clapping of hands called attention away from Minato's outburst, and to a rather peculiar form leaning on the left gatepost.

He was dressed in that same black gi, same shorn head, same energized swagger to his step.

A tearful smile of joy wrinkled his features, something none of the three on the doorstep they'd see, in light of recent circumstances.

His slow clap ceased. "That. Was. _Beautiful_." He sniffed. "They grow up so fast."

He clasped his hands in front of him and shuddered, looking like he'd just eaten something that gave him a food-orgasm. Tsukiumi, upon seeing this, wished to never know how much of their conversation he'd just witnessed, and so hurried back to the great indoors.

Meanwhile, Kazehana, more than a little euphoric over Minato's show of dominance, would've preferred said show be confined to a more private encounter, Tsukiumi notwithstanding. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, a feeling she'd never encountered before, like she'd been caught naked even though she was more than comfortable with her birthday suit. Thus, she quickly took Tsukiumi's cue and darted inside.

The big man, or rather the _bigger_ man, had apparently gotten lost in his own little world by this point, because he was humming something on the lower reaches of his baritone range. And he was hop-flexing his knees to the rhythm as he began strolling through the front yard, treading along the walk.

"Kagedansu?"

What Minato found _more_ alarming was that, upon closer examination, his arms were bandaged all the way up to his shoulders. Not just there: more bandaging wound around his bulky frame; Minato hadn't seen him like this since they dragged him off of the front step.

"Hey!" Minato stepped in front of the large Sekirei and finally brought him back to Planet Earth.

"Are you sure you don't mean someone else?" he asked.

"Ye-ees!" Minato whined. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

"Uzume's The Veiled Sekirei."

Now it was Minato's turn to give himself whiplash.

The blonde man shrugged. "Yup. Makes perfect sense, actually: body type, hair, vocal timbre, all that stuff."

"Wai-…" Minato's brain was still spewing smoke. "Bu-"

"'When', 'where', 'why' and 'how', right? Am I close? Whaddo I win?"

"Whe-" Minato waved a finger around Kagedansu's torso, like he imagined Kazehana did when she was drunk and tried to point at something. "When did all of this happen?"

The Sekirei put a fist beneath his chin. His eyes went this way, then that. "Uuuuhh… Today. Honestly, I wasn't keeping track of time."

A big grin lit his face. "But I'm here, I'm alive, and that's what matters!"

"Hey, Kagedansu?"

The large Sekirei turned to him. "Hm?"

"Are you… feeling okay?"

Kagedansu's expression leveled out. "Well, Minato, considering _absolutely_ everything I've been through…"

He pumped his fist, his face lighting up.

" **I FEEL** _ **FANTASTIC!**_ "

He said that, but as The Shadow Sekirei strolled into the Inn, those yellow of his eyes told a different story.


	55. A Man's Got to Learn to Take It

**Author's comment:**

Once more, don't start the montage music yet. Or, if you must, play your _second-_ favorite song. Mine is "Macho Man" by The Village People; also the unofficial theme song of my favorite wrestler.

A small thanks to The Immortal Doctor Reid for pointing out a moment that I missed, and spinning me a scenario that I honestly didn't think of until I spoke with him. And only while typing this author's note did I _finally_ figure out how it would resolve.

Also thanks to DARKPHANTOM13, not for giving me an idea, but for affirming that yes, the idea I had was a good one. Second opinions are a valuable commodity, if you ask me.

* * *

 **Chapter 55: A Man's Got to Learn to Take It**

The sun was setting on the horizon when Miya announced that dinner was ready.

"Thank you for washing the back wall," Miya said as the residents of the Inn kneeled around the table. "It's been too long since it's been anything but moss-green."

"No problem, Miya," Kazehana waved a friendly, dismissive hand.

"Oh?" The landlady grew a sly smile on her face. "Then I suppose you wouldn't mind watering the garden tomorrow, and spreading new mulch on the flower beds, and I know trimming the hedge shouldn't take long-"

"It was just an expression!" Kazehana said, slightly panicked. "Geez…"

Miya chuckled. "I'm well aware, Kazehana. I didn't think you were so gullible."

Now Kazehana smiled, despite herself. "Rub it in, why don't you?"

Nearby, Musubi took a piece of sushi between her chopsticks. "Okay!" she answered, and began sliding it all around the tray of coffee-colored soy sauce. "Open wide, Minato!"

"Uh, Musubi? It's okay. You don't have to grmph!"

He hadn't even gotten to his chicken and yet Musubi seemed intent on choking him, well-meaning as her intentions were.

Nearby, another pair of chopsticks quickly snapped between two jealous fingers. Tsukiumi glared at her husband from across the table, unjustly denied the right to sit by him due to Musubi's prowess at shopping races. Minato met her look with one complete and detached contempt, almost _daring_ her to make a scene. Tsukiumi's expression quickly dimmed from "fury" to "simmering annoyance" and she continued to eat her food in silence.

A potential eruption quelled, Minto swallowed the food but kept his mouth firmly shut as Musubi tried to shovel more food in.

"Seriously, Musubi, I appreciate it-" He clamped his lips shut as Kusano tried to one-up Musubi's gesture with a forkful of her own. "But I can feed myself!"

"Say, Miya," Matsu asked, "any idea what the next match will be?"

"Now why would I know anything?" Miya asked jokingly. "I'm just a landlady with a beautiful little inn to run!"

"Oh, ha ha," Matsu "Come on, Miya, I know you're really-"

The hanya mask flared up in an instant, nearly causing those tenants who were chewing to choke on their food.

"Yes? What _am_ I, Matsu?" Miya asked, in that dangerous yet unnervingly sweet tone.

The Wisdom Sekirei swallowed, though her mouth was empty. "I was just going to say that Takehito was a researcher at MBI, so you might know more than us."

"Thou art the one who breaketh into MBI's files," Tsukiumi pointed out, "for nary a reason than the sun rising that day. Wouldst thou not know already?"

"Minaka doesn't keep those files on any server I could reach," Matsu replied, taking a sip of sake. "And I'm pretty sure it's _specifically_ to hide it from the two of us."

"'Us'?" Tsukiumi repeated. "There is another like thee?"

"Kochou, No. 22."

"Ah yes, Higa's. Thou madest mention of her whilest slaving away at Ten's profile."

It was then that Minato was tempted to spill the bad news, but held off. Homura thought the same; no sense in ruining the half-decent mood. Though, speaking of shooting the messenger-

"Where's Kagedansu?" asked The Fire Sekirei. "I thought he'd be here."

"Oh, I believe he's on the roof," Miya said.

Everyone swiveled their heads to stare at her.

"On… the _roof_ ," Matsu repeated.

"Yes," Miya said, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "He took a plate of dinner before you all came in, and went outside to watch the stars."

"So why hasn't he come back for seconds?" Ku asked.

"I'll bet he broke his plate!" Musubi suggested.

"I'll go take a look," Homura said, smiling humorously. "The last thing we need is him falling off the side and squashing the flower arrangement."

"Indeed," Miya chuckled.

Shifting back and standing up, Homura popped one last piece of shrimp in his mouth before heading out.

Sure enough, one step out the door and one leap up to the roof later, Homura found the large Sekirei lying on the peak of the slanted wood: hands behind his head, eyes glazed over and slowly rolling around inside their eye sockets, scanning the sky.

"Kagedansu?" he asked. No response.

Homura climbed up and nudged him with his knuckle. This brought Kagedansu out of his stupor.

"Can I help you?" he asked half-jovially.

"Just making sure you were still with us," Homura replied. "What are you doing up here, anyway?"

"I was just thinking about how vast the universe is and how we can only ever hope to see the tiniest fraction of it at a time," Kagedansu said, catching Homura completely off-guard (and mouth agape).

"That and how the night sky looks like a giant _dome_ ," he said, wiping his hands across the air above him, like he was opening a set of curtains.

Homura turned his gaze towards the sky, his eyes scanning the stars and constellations they formed. "Actually, it kind of does. I never noticed that before."

"Just a giant _dome,_ " Kagedansu said, spreading his hands again.

This new sensation of seeing the night sky in a whole new way, Homura kept sampling it. Now he was mirroring what he'd seen Kagedansu doing, his gaze sweeping across the night sky and rounding out the invisible-

" _Dome._ "

"I get it, Kagedansu."

"Well, I don't," he continued. "Is it a dome because the limit of perception of light is equidistant no matter which direction in the sky we look, thus forming the illusion of a spherical dome..."

Homura blinked, then blinked again and rubbed his eyes, staring at the other Sekirei.

"Or because the Earth is a giant ball so naturally the stuff around it would look like a giant half-ball?"

Ah, there it was. For a second, The Fire Sekirei was worried Hametsu had gotten inside Kagedansu's head again.

"My guess is the first one," Homura concluded, still a little in shock. Between the fights and the music, he didn't think Kagedanusu's brain had room for words like "equidistant".

"Probably," Sixty-Seven agreed. "But I think the second one's more fun."

"I think you mean 'more childish'."

Kagedansu frowned. "In what way?"

"It's how a child would see it: simple, relatable, easy to understand," Homura said. "No offense."

Kagedansu unwound. "Eh, none taken. Now…" He sat up and stretched his arms, looking around the roof. "Where'd I leave that dish?"

He rolled over, and nearly slid off if not for his gender-fluxed companion shooting out a hand to catch his gi.

"Oh yeah," said the Shadow Sekirei, spying his dinner below. "I left it on the front gate."

Homura released him and followed him down to the ground. "Why there?"

"Because I couldn't think of another place to balance it."

Number Six eyed the plate of food, precariously wobbling on the spherical ornament that sat atop the gate post.

He then looked back at Kagedansu, as the latter retrieved his food. "But why though?"

"I think one of the poppy seeds just moved." Kagedansu squinted at his plate, taking one of the seeds on a sushi roll between his fingertips and squeezing it. "Nope, just my imagination."

From the inn, the two heard Musubi call, "But Minato, the bathroom's _that_ way!"

Sure enough, the former _ronin_ came bounding out of the hallway on to the front step. "Homura, I-"

He stopped as he saw that the Shadow Sekirei was also there, inspecting a (different) poppy seed on the sushi spread he carried.

"Uh, Kagedansu? What are you doing?"

"I _will_ figure out which one of these is alive," replied the Sekirei, not taking his eyes off the black spec between his fingertips.

"… Alright," Minato said, readdressing his sixth and final Sekirei. "I need to talk to you."

Homura shifted uncomfortably, folding his arms. "About what?"

"About Kazehana and-"

" _Shush!_ "

In a flash, the erstwhile distracted Shadow Sekirei had his large hand over Minato's mouth. He leaned in close to Minato's ear. The _ronin_ could feel the Sekirei's breath on the lobe, that's how short the distance was from mouth to ear.

"The walls have _ears_ , Minato. Talk about this somewhere else."

The ronin suddenly found himself hoisted over Kagedansu's shoulder, Sixty-Seven's dinner plate balanced on his other hand like a waiter.

"Wait, what are we _WAAH!_ "

The ground was suddenly growing farther and farther away, Minato almost wanting to reject his delicious supper at seeing the distance. Hand over his mouth to save some unfortunate streetwalker below him, Minato turned his gaze horizontal and found Homura following close behind.

"Where are you taking him?" Homura called.

"Some place where you guys can talk," Kagedansu called back. "About _those_ two."

And indeed, he led them a fair way's away, south towards the MBI tower along the rooftops of Tokyo, the lights casting a yellow glow beneath their forms to contrast the softer white light of the moon. Minato had little else to look at, since the constant up-and-down motion of the scenery made his human brain fully aware of the distances he was soaring, and so fixated upon Homura's black-clad form. The Fire Sekirei hadn't brought his mask, there being little need for it at a dinner table, but his black battle-attire complimenting his silver hair made him look almost like a vampire, with how well it blended into the night sky.

Homura, meanwhile, continued to stare at his Ashikabi, flopped over the shoulder of another Sekirei, unnervingly keeping his gaze locked with Minato's. If not for the precision with which he touched down, flipped and tumbled along each new platform, be it a roof, a ledge, the walkway of a billboard, or even the top of a monorail station.

Until, at long last, the trio arrived at a little rooftop greenhouse atop an apartment complex. The door was unlocked (surprise, surprise; who would scale a 7-story building to break in from the roof?) and so the three made their way inside, unmolested.

"Why'd you bring us here?" Minato demanded.

"I told you: so you could talk about _those_ two," he replied.

"What, Kazehana and Tsukiumi?" replied the Ashikabi, still a little upset at his own apparent abduction. "How do know I wasn't going to talk about something else: Kazehana and Musubi, Kazehana and Matsu, Kazehana and her drinking problem!"

"Well, if you were, now you got a more scenic place to do it."

Minato uttered a frustrated grumble: he'd quickly realized he could take this argument anywhere and he'd still somehow lose it. Whether it was here or back at the Inn, the song and dance remained the same.

"Uhm, Kagedansu?" he asked. "You can put me down now."

"Are you sure? There's still time if you wanna throw up on me."

"No, no," Minato assured his carrier. "I'll be alright."

"And I'll be holding you to that," said Kagedansu, as he un-slung Minato and deposited the Ashikabi on his feet. The Sekirei then made his way back to the clear glass door.

"Where are _you_ going?" Homura demanded, a tone which rather surprised his Ashikabi.

"To keep watch," said Kagedansu.

Something clicked in Homura's brain. "I see. Yeah, probably a good idea."

"What is- Why?" Minato was still lost.

"Because as soon as the others realize we're not at the Inn anymore," Homura elaborated, "Tsukiumi will grab Matsu and throttle her into finding us."

" _Zigackly_!" Kagedansu exclaimed, though what language it was, neither Homura nor Minato had a clue.

"… Aaaanywaaaay…" Minato began, turning his attention back to his present Sekirei.

"Tsukiumi and Kazehana. You're still mad at them?"

"N-no!" Minato stammered, waving his hands. "Well, _yeah_ , kind of… Sigh…"

The ronin clutched his head and rolled his thumbs against his temples as he continued. "I don't wanna stay mad at them. I wanna forgive them, and drop this whole thing, just let it go, but _every time_ I'm about to, I keep thinking that if I do, then they'll never take me seriously again."

Homura nodded. "I can understand that. You might be wrong, though: Kazehana hates seeing people upset. In fact, Tsukiumi's the only exception I can think of, and that's probably from Tsukiumi herself being easily set off."

"Even so, I keep imagining Kazehana and Tsukiumi fighting again, then me telling them to stop, and then Kazehana throws herself on me and starts… Erm…"

Minato didn't have to finish it. Homura could see it now, making his stomach turn a little: Number 3 rubbing her cheek against Minato's, saying how sorry she was and purring like a cat because she _knows_ Minato won't resist it for long. Then Tsukiumi jumps to his other side and gets mad at Kazehana, they start their bickering again, and the whole thing circles right back to where it started. Only this time, Future Minato already blew his "Angry" card, and now there's no way to intervene short of calling in another Sekirei to split them up.

Homura sighed. The way they carried themselves, one would think they were the most adult of Minato's flock. Yet they fought over him like children.

"I would say, 'Let them off gently'," Homura said finally. "Talk to them, make it clear you're still upset, but slowly unwind. End it on _your_ terms, so they know that if it happens again, they can't just seduce you into forgiving them."

"Okay." Already a plan of attack was forming in Minato's brain: he'd read them the riot act, as quietly angered as he could, maybe make it look like he was about to snap if one of them happened to interrupt him. He'd repeat to them the stuff he said earlier, about how he'll put up with their bickering (after all, he _did_ sort of enjoy being fought over), but that violence was a big no-no, regardless of which inn they were staying at or how scary their landlady happened to be. They might try to pull that, "But we'll have to fight for you eventually," and that would be his cue to unload his secret weapon, one that he wished he'd thought of when he'd spoken to them last but was glad he hadn't wasted it (by this point, he was murmuring out-loud to himself; Homura planned to stop him when he made a wrong turn).

Then Minato would tell them he forgave them, then give them each a kiss to prove it, and that would be that.

Minato looked back up at Homura. "But how do I stop them from fighting again?" he asked.

Homura's gaze had left his Ashikabi. Eye contact now broken, Minato's male eyes darted down to Homura's chest, still filled-out and feminine in contrast to his asexual demeanor. Just as quick, he was looking past Homura at the plants lining the glass walls. It was ironic, Homura's apparent lack of libido, given his previous occupation. Or, perhaps because of it.

"I… I couldn't say," the Sekirei told him.

"Well, you've been with lots of girls, right? At the club? How did you keep _them_ from fighting over you?"

"The girls I was with were never Sekirei. We're possessive by nature, Minato," said Homura.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Kagedansu's voice interjected. "Like, right now?"

"Why right now?"

"Because the Girls of the Hounds of Baskerville are here," he replied, jerking a thumb behind him at the silhouettes approaching via the rooftops. His English was hampered by the speed with which he rattled off the syllables, but Minato grasped the message, and quickly leaned in close while Kagedansu whispered his plan.

"I don't know if I have-"

"Then find one!" Kagedansu whispered harshly. "Unless you get a better idea before they-"

A gust of wind swept through the greenhouse

"Oooh, Mina-kuuun~!"

" _MINATO!_ "

"See, guys?" Musubi's mezzo-soprano voice brought up the rear as she nudged her way to the front of the cram. "He's fine, just like Matsu said!"

"Good to see you, too, Musubi," Minato said. He could practically hear the _smack!_ that Tsukiumi and Kazehana felt from being ignored.

And ignore them he did, because no _way_ would he try this plan without Miya around.

The Ashikabi turned back to Homura. "Thanks for listening," he said. Homura, rather than respond, turned his attention to Kagedansu.

The Shadow Sekirei stood there for a moment, the gazes of the females shifting to look at him, too. What was _this_ all about?

"You're sure you're okay," Homura said to him.

"Yup."

"You feel fine?"

"I feel so great, I could _burst_ into song!" Kagedansu's response echoed against the glass, throwing his arms wide and spinning about on the ball of his foot.

"Refrain," Tsukiumi said, already irritated. "I'm of a mind to return home."

"Hey, Musubi, can you give me a lift back?" Minato asked his second Sekirei. The brunette practically snatched up his hand and flew out the door, her Ashikabi wailing in unbalanced terror as he was dragged through the air.

"I'll do my best, Minato!"

" _Musubii-ii!_ "

Their Ashikabi rapidly growing smaller, Kazehana and Tsukiumi took to the ledge and leapt off after them. It was at that point that the two remaining men noticed Kusano among the plants, having remained quiet throughout the whole thing.

"Ku?" Homura asked, walking up to her and squatting down. "When did you get here?"

"Ku was here the whole time," she murmured, her head lowering.

"Why? What's wrong?"

She sniffled. "It's Big Brother…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato was quick to ascend to his room at the top of the stairs. He didn't run, because then Musubi might see him and let it slip to _those two_ ; they might realize he was playing them, or at least get suspicious. He decided to make them wait a little longer. Mean time, he slipped out of his normal shirt and put on his ad-hoc pajama top (another, slightly-more-immaculate shirt).

And after a short period, while he was pulling the socks off of his feet, groaning as he managed to tear one when it snagged on his heel, he heard a knock at the door. Putting his "I'm still upset" face back on, he stood up, strode over to the door, and slid it open to find no one there.

"B… Big Brother?"

Oh _no_.

He quickly dropped the act, but it was too late, Ku was already starting to sob a little as she stood there in her pajamas, rubbing her reddened, tear-filled eye with her hand.

"Ku! I didn't- If I'd-" He grumble-coughed to clear the itch in his throat. "Shouldn't you be going to bed?"

" _How can Ku go to bed while Big Brother hates Tsukiumi and Kaze-san!_ " the girl squeaked, catching Minato completely off-guard.

"Wh- _What?!_ "

Ku's cute little face scrunched up even further. "Big Brother hasn't said a single nice thing to them all day. Ku asked Kagari and Kagari said you didn't hate any of us. But then Ku asked Kagedansu and he said, 'Talk to Big Brother'."

 _Gee, a lot of help you were!_ There he went to pour his doubts out to him and what did the big lug do? Hang him out to dry like a load of wet laundry!

"Then Ku asked Tsukiumi and Kaze-san, and _they_ said Ku should talk to Big Brother."

Somehow, that surprised him less.

" _Why is everyone not telling me?!_ " Kusano wailed, sliding her small arms around her sibling's neck when he knelt down and gave her a hug. "People always tell Ku things unless they're really really serious, because they think Ku is too little to listen!"

Minato could feel the moisture spreading across the shoulder of his shirt.

"I know I'm little, and I don't always know what's going on when the grown-ups are talking…"

The Green Girl backed up, thumped a hand across her chest, and cried,

"But if Big Brother hates Ku, then I'll listen! I'm big enough for _that,_ because Ku is Big Brother's Sekirei and she'll love him no matter what!"

Her lip was quivering now.

"Even if Big Brother hates me."

It was almost funny, if it didn't tug at his heartstrings to know Ku had genuinely convinced herself of all this.

"I don't hate any of you, Ku," Minato told her, "I'm just mad at Tsukiu… At your big sisters."

"But can't Big Brother _stop_ being mad at them?" she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'm afraid I do, they won't take me seriously again."

"Ku will take you seriously, Big Brother!" she declared, hugging him close. "Big Brother means the whole world _and_ the moon and all the stars to Ku!"

"No, it-" He sighed. Wet laundry. "It's not like that. Tsukiumi and Kazehana almost got in a fight today, over something as stupid as a kiss."

"Don't call them that!" Kusano squeaked, pulling away and clenching her fists by her hips. "Kisses are everyone's way of showing how much they love someone!"

"I know, I know!" Minato motioned for her to calm down, which she visibly did. "It's just that if I hadn't gotten so angry at them, they wouldn't have stopped. And the next time it happens, they might _not_ stop. I just don't know when to forgive them, that's all."

"Please forgive them!" Ku pleaded. "We hate it when you get mad. So if you get mad at them for it, then they won't do it again!"

"Does Miya getting mad at them stop them from breaking her rules?" Minato countered.

Kusano looked away. "Nnnno…?"

"That's the trouble. If a scary landlady can't stop them, what chance do I have?"

Ku thought for a moment, and her previous mournfulness returned. "But… But why does Big Brother have to be mad at all?"

" _You_ just answered that, Ku," Homura said, appearing beside her and ruffling her hair with his hand.

"Ku did?"

"Yeah," The Fire Sekirei assured her. "You said, 'If Minato gets mad at them for it, then they won't do it again'."

"But why can't he just ask them? Landlady-sama asks them to do things all the time, and they listen."

"We get mad to show we don't like something," Homura said. "It's different than just asking someone. If you ask someone, they'll listen, but they might forget, because all they remember is you not wanting them to do it. You don't know if they'd get mad, or forgive you, or what. But when you or anyone else gets mad, they remember that you don't want them to do something _and_ that you'll be angry with them if they do."

"But Ku hates it when people get mad at her…" Ku bemoaned.

"And you don't like that feeling, do you, Ku?"

"No…" The Green Girl shook her head.

"So, you remember that feeling when you're about to make someone mad, and not wanting to feel that way stops you from provoking them. Minato's just making sure Tsukiumi and Kazehana don't forget how angry he gets when they fight."

Minato nodded in agreement, and finally The Green Girl's mind was at peace.

"Like how they forget our landlady's rules a lot…" Homura grumbled, though he seemed to direct his grumbling towards the bottom of the stairs, heading down himself.

He was replaced by the form of Kagedansu, leaning inside Minato's doorframe.

"Translation: the sharks are circling below," he muttered. "And I'm pretty sure they heard all of that."

Minato's face slapped into his palm, as all his efforts blew away in the hallway draft.

The Shadow Sekirei shrugged. "Oh well, what can you do but try to get a good night's sleep?"

He pushed an elbow against the frame and tipped himself upright.

"Because after breakfast tomorrow…"

The large man thrust a finger at Minato, and upon giving him the single most carnivorously terrifying look that Minato had ever seen on his face, growled, " _You're_ mine, _buddy._ "

For a moment, Minato honestly thought Kagedansu was about to _eat_ him.

Then the Shadow Sekirei brightened up, wave a hand and said, "So, nighty-night!"

There was silence as Kagedansu walked down the hall, entering and shutting the door to… Uzume's room? And then,

"Does Kagedansu hate Big Brother now?"

"No, I think he's just excited," Minato said, chuckling uneasily. "Though like I'm gonna get any sleep _now_."

"Ku will stay with you!" The Green Girl was already one step into Minato's room.

"Sorry, Ku. But remember the rules: Big Brother has to sleep alone."

"But we sleep with you all the time!" Ku protested. "Pleeease? Ku promises she'll never ask to sleep next to Big Brother again!"

Minato shook his head. "Trust me, you don't want to make that promise, Ku. Not if you want to be my wife someday."

"Why?"

Minato almost swallowed his tongue. "Erm… Never mind. Get into bed now, okay?"

"Hrmph…" Ku pouted, stomping her way down the hall. "You'd tell me if I was older…"

A reminder that maybe not today (obviously), maybe not tomorrow, but someday, someone was going to have to give her "the talk". And between Musubi's ignorance, Matsu's perversion, Kazehana's inherent bias on the subject, Miya's almost fascist attitude on the matter, Tsukiumi's uptight attitude towards it, and Homura's anatomical dilemma, that responsibility might just fall on himself. Oh joy.

Minato cast his voice to the bottom of the stairs. "Alright, you two. I know you're down there, so come on up," he called.

"Geez, Mina-kun, no need to sound so much like a parent," Kazehana said, stretching her arms above her head as she climbed the stairs, Tsukiumi three steps in front of her.

"Oh. Sorry," the former _ronin_ offered.

"Wilt thou stop being so uncertain?!" Tsukiumi barked, her black nightgown once again offering the tiniest see-through glimpse at the gorgeous female form beneath. "From thy talk, thou hast had more than enough of that today!"

Minato blinked and brought his attention back to Tsukiumi's face. It was late, and he was getting tired. But there was one thing he had left to do.

"Fine," he huffed wearily. "I'm kind of sick of talking about it anyway."

"Then let us drop the matter," Tsukiumi said.

"I can't," Minato said, alarming both his Sekirei.

"… Why not?" Kazehana dared to ask. Tired men, in her experience, were seldom in their best mood. The sane ones, anyway.

"First," Minato said, raising his hand to motion to them, but then he stopped. His two self-proclaimed wives shot each other a worried, slightly perplexed look as their husband began rummaging around in his jeans' right pocket. Finally finding what he was looking for, Minato proceeded to pull out a single 50 yen coin. He glanced at one side, then at Kazehana, then the other, then at Tsukiumi, finally sending it spinning through the air with a flick of his thumb. He snatched it as it nearly spun away, his aim off from lack of practice, then opened his hand to reveal _hyo,_ the front side. Giving Tsukiumi one more glance, he put the coin away and faced Kazehana.

"Minato?" she asked as he grasped her shoulders. He slowly, nervously, began leaning in while Tsukiumi looked on, her expression gradually becoming more infuriated.

And it finished its transformation when Kazehana caught on and clamped her hands around Minato's head, pulling him into a fiery kiss. The Water Sekirei could see her rival's tongue pressing on the side of Minato, _her_ husband's, mouth, and the equally abhorring sight of Kazehana raising her leg to caress Minato's outer thigh. Just to pour salt on the wound, she saw no attempt to resist when Kazehana grasped Minato's hand and forced it onto her breast, churning it all around

Tsukiumi almost choked on her own rage. She had a mind to wash clean this filthy display, when it finally ceased.

"Mmmhh," The Wind Sekirei moaned. "Better be careful, Minato. A girl could get drunk off of that."

"Well, it _is_ cheaper than alcohol," Minato joked.

"'Less expensive', you mean," cooed Kazehana, stepping in and hooking a hand around his head, stroking his black hair. "There's nothing cheap about you, Mina-kun."

" _Minato! Explain thyself at once!"_

Minato had to wonder why exactly he'd decided to do this: to see how far they could go before Tsukiumi blew up. Because her serpent's nest of blonde hair and the shadow cast over her eyes made her out like a gorgon, ready to tear him to shreds.

"The-" Words failed him and his brain almost retreated down its own stem to hide in his upper back.

"For thou to be so _… So… Brazen_ in front of thy _own wife_ , and of all people with _this_ strumpet _…_ "

" _What_ did you just call me?" Kazehana asked, a small hint of cold entering her voice-like-melted-chocolate. Despite that, she still had a tiny little smile hiding at the corner of her mouth.

" _Thy manhood shall sit impaled on a pike, as a warning to would-be adulterers!_ "

Dear Buddha, what monster of myth had Minato just unleashed?

"I'm sorry, Tsukiumi!" He clapped his hands together and dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm _so_ sorry!"

"Tis too late for groveling, worm," The Water Sekirei declared, crystal-blue liquid materializing around her hand, forming not a blade but an axe. It was here that Kazehana wondered if she should intervene after all.

"W-wait!" Minato threw his hands between him and his executioner, like that would somehow save him. "Don't I get to say my last piece?"

" _Speak_ , then," Tsukiumi spat, raising the axe high, "that I may mark thy grave with _something,_ at least."

"Hookay…" he breathed, climbing to his feet. Despite being taller than the blonde, she made sure to keep her weapon poised above him.

"The toss was to see who I kiss _first,_ " he replied calmly, gently framing Tsukiumi's face between his palms. Her sword dissolved into a puddle on the floor as he lowered his lips to hers. Her shimmering blue wings gently unfolded from her back and the Water Sekirei felt her husband's warmth flow from his lips to her core, and then to the rest of her body. Unlike Kazehana, Tsukiumi didn't request her husband's hand on her bosom, nor did Minato attempt to, instead reaching around her back to hug her to him.

From her position, Kazehana saw a slightly deeper blush appear on Tsukiumi's cheeks, and immediately started scanning the duo's silhouettes for signs of the cause.

"Consider it dropped," Minato said. "And you two should probably get used to seeing me kissing the other. It's going to happen a lot."

Tsukiumi's eyes narrowed. "And why is that?" she hissed.

"Because I don't care what Minaka has in store," he said, looping his lanky arms around their shoulders and pulling them both close. "I'm keeping all of you, now and forever."

"Hmph," Tsukiumi huffed, a warm, good-humored sound. "That is the Sekirei's line. I've bound myself to a delusional madman."

"And it looks like _I_ got stuck with a hopeless optimist," Kazehana purred, hugging her hubby tight.

"Is… That a bad thing?" Minato asked.

"No," came the dual responses.

He closed his eyes and laughed. "You guys are impossible sometimes, you know that?"

The Water Sekirei separated, only to grasp Minato's collar and kiss him again.

"Wouldst thou love us so, if we weren't?" Tsukiumi countered, leaving on that to retreat to her solitary room.

Kazehana watched her go, hand on her hip. "Took the words right out of my mouth, Tsukiumi," she murmured.

She then turned a slightly seductive eye to her husband.

"By the way…"

The Sekirei pressed herself against Minato's body, her well-developed breasts simultaneously pushing him back and inviting him to come closer. She placed her jaw on his shoulder, turned her mouth towards his ear, and whispered,

"Just because I'm a breast girl doesn't mean I don't like your hands going…"

A soft hand took his own, and guided it down to her posterior.

" _Other_ places…"

Minato was fighting to keep his blood flow in check. This close, Kazehana would notice immediately. Yet, the low, contralto moan she let slip when he squeezed her buttock was almost too enticing to resist. Her dress was so thin and form-fitting that it might as well have been absent; he could feel every inch of soft femininity, just as plush and welcoming as the rest of her.

Her hand left his, and locked with her other behind his back. Her eyelids began to close as she lifted her head from his shoulder and gently dragged the tips of her lips across his cheek, slowly but surely approaching his mouth.

Minato maneuvered around her attempt to kiss him, his head going left, then right, checking both ends of the hall and listening for any jealous sounds. When he returned to facing her, she once again made a move on his mouth, but once again he avoided it.

Worried tainted her eyes. "Something wrong, Minato? Mph!"

Next thing she knew he was crushing her to him: lips, breasts, stomach, legs, everything.

As the intensity of her wings wound down, Kazehana's head lurched back and an orgasmic breath burst from her mouth. What an answer!

She rolled her eyes down from looking at the ceiling.

"You're such a tease, Mina-kun," she said quietly, smiling.

"Like _you're_ one to talk," he shot back.

"I should be. I'm the expert, after all."

She squeaked a little as he gave her butt another rough squeeze. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for me," he inquired, "being around you guys _without_ you egging me on?"

"Well," Kazehana murmured lustily, sliding a hand over the groin of his pants, "I know how hard _this_ is…"

And then, out of nowhere, a wild bear appeared.

After nearly scaring the skin off of the two, they realized that no, it _was_ Musubi, looking as oblivious as ever to the monster she'd conjured.

"Hey, Minato?" she said, tilting her head.

As soon as he opened his mouth to answer, Musubi's head pushed forward and caught him right on the lips, her pink wings, similar and yet slightly more curved than Kazehana, lit the hallway.

"Good night!" said the fist-type, before opening the door to her room and turning around. "You coming, Kazehana?"

"In a second," she replied. Minato found his lips ambuscaded yet again, this time from the wind-user.

"Good night, Mina-kun." She then disentangled herself from him, and practically leapt through door, such was her hurry. Musubi was already fast asleep, from the sound of her gentle breaths, and that left Kazehana the sole occupant.

She tore off her purple dress. Her hands flew to herself, fondling and stroking furiously while she writhed on her bedspread. Minato's translucent specter hovered around her: it was _he_ who was touching her this way, prodding and stroking and teasing as she silently begged him to have her for the night, to take her body and ravage it until she was drowning in her own juices.

Kazehana clenched her lips together as her loins sent tremors through the rest of her body. She flopped back on her bedspread, passing out in pure, erotic bliss.

 _You don't know hard it is for me, either, Mina-kun_.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato awoke with a massive pressure on his chest.

At first, he thought a pair of his Sekirei had slept on _top_ of him rather than next to him, but counting the number of well-developed busts pressing against him (plus Ku's tiny hands clutching his stomach), everyone was accounted for.

Opening his eyes and tilting his head up, he found his bed had a most startling seventh occupant.

It was Kagedansu: loose-fitting silver pajamas spilling on to the mounds of nubile flesh that lay beneath him, for he looked like a saddlebag tossed over the back of a rugged stallion, lying perpendicular to everyone else and using his own hands as a bulwark between his head and the hard wooden floor.

"Kage… Heavy… Crushing me…" Minato wheezed but The Shadow Sekirei was still light-eons away from _this_ reality.

The Ashikabi tried to wriggle his way out from under the pile but this only caused the other five occupants to climb higher on his body, keeping him firmly trapped in this tomb of flesh and jammies.

"Help…"

He then looked up towards the window to see the sun's rays barely peeking over the horizon. Groaning in dismay, he continued to wrestle against his captors, struggling to at least get a limb out so he could nudge one of them awake.

That didn't work, so he started nudging the woman on his right arm, Matsu, with his elbow. At least, as much as he could, since mobility was almost non-existent in this position.

"Mmh, keep touching me, Mina-tan…"

She had his arm trapped between her boobs. That cloth he felt against his tricep must've been her pink nightie.

Sighing to himself, he laid his head back on his pillow, only now realizing that Kazehana had once again usurped its position beneath him. He felt her naked body shimmy around him a little, until she had him hugged up to his nose in womanly softness. Nothing to do now, except wait for the inevitable…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _WHACK!_

And there it was.

Minato's brain was jostled awake, and he was finally unearthed from the mound of women that near buried him alive.

" _Get thee hence!_ " Tsukiumi barked, as Kagedansu's still-slumbering form rolled off the pile, resting against the landlady's feet. "What art thou doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same, Tsukiumi," Miya said, her hanya mask appearing. "So let's hear it."

"I, er-hmm…" Tsukiumi cleared her throat. "I do not care to be apart from my husband, Landlady-san."

"A sentiment I share," Miya assured her, the hanya wavering before reasserting itself. "But nevertheless, this is my Inn, and those who break the rules will be punished."

She turned her attention to the surprise rule-breaker.

"So why on Earth were you sleeping with Minato-san?" she asked, before a slightly teasing note entered her voice. "Is there something you'd like to share with us?"

Kagedansu looked up at her, stretching his arms. "Came across these guys all piled on while up for a glass of water. Door was open, saw everyone inside, thought it was kind of strange that they'd all get up _just_ to go to bed somewhere else entirely."

"Indeed it was," Miya chuckled, whilest glaring at the lot of them while they cowered in fear, Kusano and Musubi notwithstanding.

"I mean," Kagedansu continued, shrugging his large shoulders, "I didn't _think_ it was a rite of passage, certainly didn't _look_ like one, buuut on the off-chance it was…"

And on _that_ note, Miya decided, it was time for more smackings.

"What the hell was _that_ for, Miya?" Kazehana demanded.

Miya leveled her hanya at her and the rest of Minato's flock.

"It would seem that I need to be stricter, as your bad habits are spreading to the rest of my tenants." Miya thrust her spoon at them. "There will be no breakfast for any of you. Be on your best behavior, and I may consider making your dinner tonight."

The furious landlady felt a tug on her kimono, and found Ku at the bottom of it, rubbing one eye with her hand.

"But you said Ku needed to keep growing, Miya," the little girl reminded her innocently.

"That you do," replied the landlady with a smile, leaning down and patting her on the head. "You haven't broken my rules, Kusano, so just for you, I'll make breakfast."

"Yaaay!"

Musubi let out a long whine. "Aaaw, no fair…"

"Everyone loses to crying kids…" Matsu groaned.

"Welp, nothing stopping us now," Kagedansu proclaimed, grabbing his student by the collar. "C'mon, Minato, let's hit the salt mine!"

"Wait a minute, I haven't changed or brushed my teeth or put on deodorant!" Minato protested. "Or _ANYTHING!_ "

"Bah!" The Shadow Sekirei dropped him. "Fine, you can do _two_ of those things. You got five minutes. Prioritize, Minato."

And as soon as Kagedansu left, Minato felt two hands rope around his neck and pull him back into the pile, the naked flesh of their owner squishing all around his cheek.

"Kazehana," Minato said, trying to wriggle free as he wondered if he'd ever be able to leave his bed again.

His statement about morning breath was put on hold, as The Wind Sekirei kissed him anyway.

Kazehana moaned in ecstasy as her shining pink wings unfurled from her crest, and continued to do so even after Tsukiumi pulled her husband away and kissed him just as passionately. Blue replaced pink, followed by shimmering orange, then green (much to Minato's chagrin), and finally back to pink with Musubi.

"Maybe when you're done, _you_ could spar with me!" Musubi chirped, beaming at him.

"Nay! On no account art thou to damage my husband, Musubi!" Tsukiumi squawked.

"Well, of course not!" happily replied the fist-type. "That's what makes it a spar!"

"I'll spar with you some time," Kazehana suggestively cooed to her husband, wrapping her naked arms (and breasts) around Minato's right tricep. "If Miya's not around, that is."

"Ku ku, I'll second that, if it's not a private party," Matsu snickered, occupying Minato's other arm, still in her revealing pink nightie.

"Hey! Let Minato go!" Musubi protested, pulling her Ashikabi out from the shuffle and to his feet. "How is he supposed to get ready with everyone holding him down?"

"Yeah! How?" Ku demanded, crossing her arms.

"It's _mental_ preparation," Matsu replied. "A little taste of what 'comes' when he's done, ku ku ku."

"That won't get his teeth brushed," Musubi shot back, before putting her hands on Minato's shoulderblades and wheeling him out the door, Kusano following.

"By the way, Musubi, what's a spar?" Kusano asked.

"Oh, you don't know?" Musubi asked, propping Minato up in front of the bathroom and holding up a finger. "It's what two people do when they like each other but still want to fight. You know, what me and the landlady do outside with Tsukiumi!"

Ku's face slowly shifted to a nauseated white pigment, before she grabbed Minato's hand and started pulling on it.

"Go back to the room, big brother!"

"It'll be fine, Ku," Minato reassured her as he reeled her in and lifted her up. "This way, you guys won't have to worry about me so much."

"But we like worrying about you!"

"That may be," and he was pretty sure it wasn't, "but _I_ don't. I hate making you guys worry. Remember when I was taken to that warehouse? Did you like worrying about me then?"

Ku looked at him, then put her little arms around his neck and hugged him close. "No…"

"Then I'm going to get stronger," he said, squeezing her to him before setting her down. "For what chance I actually have…"

"You'll do fine!" Musubi remained adamantly cheerful. "Kagedansu's going to be a great teacher, I just know it!"

"I don't think he's the problem, Musubi," Minato sighed, getting to his feet.

"And you're a great learner," she continued, giving him a hug of her own, and a kiss on the cheek. "So what's there to worry about?"

"Right, _let's go!_ " thundered The Shadow Sekirei, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to grab Minato away.

"Uuugh…" Minato groaned. He hadn't been awake for more than 5 minutes and already-

" _WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!_ "

 _Clunk!_

"Ow!" Minato rubbed the back of his dropped head, the bottom step having left a lump on it.

"Big Brother!"

"Minato! Are you okay?"

As Musubi and Ku joined him on the steps, Minato gaped at Kagedansu. "What was that for?!"

"For not keeping track of time, ya moron," Kagedansu shot back. "Hasn't been 5 minutes yet, has it?"

And suddenly, Minato found himself dogpiled by 3 more women from all directions.

"Mina-kun!"

"Husband! Art thou hurt?!"

"He doesn't look hurt," Matsu said, bringing up the rear and giving him a quick look-over.

"Guys, I'm fine! I just hit my head, that's all!"

"Wrong," Kagedansu said. "I dropped him on his head."

" _WHY?!"_ screeched three voices simultaneously.

"For being gutless. You guys winged yourselves on an invertebrate."

"What does that mean?" Musubi asked.

Matsu turned to look at her. "It's a term to mean an animal with no spi- _HEY!_ "

Kagedansu didn't seem to notice her angry outburst, as he was too busy looking perplexed at no one, possibly himself. Nor did he seem to notice when Tsukiumi began (to attempt) to jostle him about the collar.

" _What right dost thou have, injuring my husband?!_ "

"The right as his trainer and mentor," Kagedansu said, locking his hands around Tsukiumi's. She tried to pull herself free, but his grip was like a pneumatic vice, so _he_ decided when . "And as someone who's concerned for his mental state."

Minato climbed to his butt. "But you said-"

"Doesn't matter what I said!" Kagedansu snapped. "If someone says one thing and then immediately does another, you got every right to tell them off!"

At this, Minato lowered his head and let out a long groan, before seeing a finger thrust against his chest.

"Listen you, if you're gonna stand a snowball's chance in Hell of winning a scrap, you gotta stand up for yourself!" That finger then turned into a close knuckle, which rose to tilt Minato back to where he was looking at Kagedansu. "How are you supposed to punch someone's lights out if you can't even be bothered to _want_ to fight them?"

Minato was about to answer, until he realized that Kagedansu might be testing him again, meaning he might still be on the clock.

So, he said, "Well, hopefully you'll teach me," before going back upstairs to prune his morning-self. Tsukiumi followed him up, to stand guard in case Kagedansu tried some other underhanded lesson.

Which lasted about thirty seconds, Minato having had just enough time to get his teeth brushed before Kagedansu came in and threw a wad of laundry at him.

"Get dressed," he told the boy. "Clock's ticking."

"Already?!" Minato yelped.

"I told you to prioritize," said the Sekirei. "And you did. Time to reap what you sowed."

And so they came to be standing outside, facing each other. Kagedansu had a hand on his chin, looking Minato over, inspecting and scrutinizing every single part of him.

"Right," said The Shadow Sekirei. "Lemme see you punch."

Minato looked around, trying to seek the target Kagedansu had set up, before the snapping of fingers brought his attention back front-and-center.

"Come on, let's see it, then!" Kagedansu ordered. "Hit me!"

"Are you sure?" It felt kind of wrong, striking a friend.

"Buddy, if you somehow manage to hurt me with a single punch, I will call the session now and _you_ can be the sensei."

Minato huffed a breath. "Halright, if you say so."

Minato punched Kagedansu, right in the pectoral.

"Again."

Minato did so.

"Again."

Another punch.

"Harder."

Minato obeyed.

Kagedansu repeated himself. Minato did likewise, though his fingers were starting to hurt, as was his wrist.

"You hit like a boy. Hit me like a _MEH-YAN!_ "

Minato's next attempt met with similar results.

"A sad, strange little boy punch. Where's your 'I AM A MEY-AHN!' punch?"

What Minato thought was a "meh-yan" punch turned out to be more disappointment. And more pain.

"I just can't do this…" he sighed, wringing out his wrist.

"Do I have to drop you on your head again?"

Minato shook his head, then felt a hand on his left arm, the one that _wasn't_ aching.

"Strong," Kagedansu said, squeezing his wrist. "Solid. If your wrist is hurting, it's because you're too loose when you punch. You need to tighten up more, keep your fist clenched so the muscles in your arm stay tight. And this-"

He grasped Minato's fingers, the sore ones.

"Don't hit with a flat fist." He gave Minato a soft, molasses-slow jab to the right of the Ashikabi's chest, pointing to various parts of his closed hand. "Hit with the top two knuckles on the hand; they form a natural point. Tilt it forward a little when you punch." He drew a line from his knuckles up his gradually thicker forearm. "It forms a single, hard shaft, better supported, and allowing you to hit with more force.

He began pointing to various parts of himself. "Aim for soft parts: chest, ribs, throat, gut. I guarantee any bone you hit is going to be a lot thicker than your phalanges _or_ your metacarpals. Don't wanna hurt yourself."

"But isn't that, I don't know, dirty fighting?"

Kagedansu raised an eyebrow. "You wanna win or not?"

"Okay, but what IF… Hear me out: what if I want to enter a fighting tournament?"

" **HA!** " Kagedansu slapped him on the back, rattling the Ashikabi's teeth in their roots. "If you somehow get into a tournament with this and _don't_ get disqualified, then you're doing it wrong."

"Why?" Minato was a little worried, even more so as he just now noticed Kazehana and Matsu on the sides of the house, watching with Ku between them. "What style am I learning?"

Kagedansu smirk-grinned, showing off a section of his gum line.

"Krav maga."

He started nodding, _sloooooooowly_ , his yellow eyes growing wider and more hungry as he spoke.

"The most vicious... Merciless... _B_ _rutally_ efficient style I know."

As Minato was right on the verge of shrinking into a dried-out sponge, Kagedansu wound down.

"In short, the simplest, and the best to take with you on the street. At least, in _my_ humble opinion."

"I don't know about this," Minato whimpered, before he was yanked under Kagedansu's arm like a sack of potatoes.

" _BUT FIRST!_ "

And then Minato was flying through the air, yelling, being carried, watching Kazehana pursue them with Ku on her back.

* * *

 **Author's plug** :

Now, I told you _that_ story to tell you this one.

There's an introverted but well-meaning teen mom who was left to raise a child alone, with only a kind neighboring family to help her. She had a few social anxieties (I mean, wouldn't you if some jerk reeled you in, told you that you were hot stuff, then shoved a baby inside of you and left you to take care of it?), and a few minor but non-grating hang-ups about the opposite gender. That is, until she meets a man by the name of Kagari.

Yes, _that_ Kagari.

And if that in any way sounds interesting to you, mosey on over to the Sekirei fic "Not Alone" by ashleygruz and give it a read. It's a little rocky at the start, but I swear you could read the reviews I left on it and catalog the writing's rise from "adequate" to "quite excellent".

So while you're waiting for more of my story, give "Not Alone" a chance. Hey, if I like it so much that I volunteer to be its beta-reader/editor, you can guarantee that it's doing _something_ right. A lot of things, actually.

 _Addendum, July 6, 2017:_ Next chapter's coming. I have the beginning and the end more or less finished. It's the middle that's driving me nuts.


	56. To Be a Macho

**Author's thanks:**

I said before the previous chapter that one can never have too many second opinions. Well, one guy whose opinion I found, for lack of a more creative and interesting word, reassuring was tediEmperor, one of my beta-readers and a follower/favoriter of this story. I found enormous amounts of relief in how he was able to pick up on the ideas and implications I left between the words. With all these writers, both amateur and professional, who spoon-feed their audience every single idea in the first viewing, I sometimes get it in my head that they're right and I should just stop treating you all like intelligent, observant human beings.

Then I read a simple, straightforward comment like the kind you left for Chapter 52, tedi, and I come to my senses. Praise is just as important as criticism, and yours was always something I enjoyed whilest hammering out a long-winded chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter 56: To Be a Macho**

" _WHERE ARE WE GOING?!_ "

" _TO GET BREAKFAST!_ "

" _BUT MIYA SAID-_ "

Kagedansu cut him off. " _MIYA'S THE LANDLADY, NOT THE GRAND SUPER-TYRANT!_ "

About twenty yards behind them, Kazehana chuckled a little. "If only you knew…"

Back at the front line, while Kagedansu had a point, it still felt like Minato was cheating his way out of punishment. But on the other hand, food.

"Look," said the Shadow Sekirei, touching down and releasing Minato in front of a gas station/convenience store, "if you don't like the game, play a different one. Change the rules around, at least.

He swept a hand towards the store. "We were playing the starving game, now it's hide-'n'-chow-down."

"It still feels sort of… Underhanded."

"Think of it as giving up Miya's cooking for gas station food," Kazehana suggested as she touched down with Ku. "Who knows? You might decide to skip breakfast anyway."

"O-… kay?" Minato began fumbling around in his pocket as he looked at her, a slight furrow in his brow. "Are you going to be alright without food? I know how much you guys need to eat, being Sekirei and all that."

She threw her arms around Minato and pressed her cheek to his. "You don't need to worry about me, Mina-kun! I could survive on just the love resonating from our bond! Aaah, it feels so wonderful!"

"So, is... that a 'yes'?" Minato eyed her warily, keeping his arms at his sides and hoping she didn't go for his lips with this many people around.

Kazehana giggled. "You're funny, Mina-kun."

Then the quartet walked inside. And one by one, every man inside (and a girl, who was by herself), turned to ogle her. The Sekirei didn't seem to mind. In fact, as she placed her hands behind her head and stretched her torso muscles (thereby showing off the ripeness of her fruits), she seemed to enjoy it.

And Minato, with everything he knew about her and their relationship, started to feel the slightest bit, well, "possessive".

The Ashikabi almost _ran_ to the fridge section in the back, such was his hurry to get this done and get [Kazehana] out of there. He quickly selected a can of juice, before a large hand forced his back into the shelving. Instead, a mirroring left hand placed a chocolate protein drink in his, that right hand that forced it back laying on his shoulder.

"Bear with it, Minato," Kagedansu said, though he himself was eying Kazehana with an almost inquisitive look.

"You too, Kagedansu?" Minato sighed helplessly.

Kagedansu turned back to him. "I think she's starved for attention."

Minato's eye twitched a little as he recalled just how much "attention" Kazehana would regularly receive (and demand) from him. The propositions might've been less terrifying than Tsukiumi's, but still.

Kagedansu shrugged. "Why else would she… Um…" He rested his lower lip on his knuckle. "How to put this…"

Minato felt a tug on his right pant leg.

"Can Ku have this?" she asked, holding up a bottle of soda.

Minato laughed. "Didn't you already have breakfast?"

"Ku needs more breakfast!" Kusano piped up. "Ku's a growing girl, like a tree!"

"Well, I think you can do better than sugary drinks."

"Whyyyeeee?" Ku whined.

"Ever tried watering a tree with phosphoric acid?" Kagedansu was reading the ingredients on an identical container. "I mean, _I_ haven't, but I heard it dissolves your teeth if you leave it in your mouth long enough."

Minato had a better idea. "You wanna grow up to be big and-" Minato coughed. "-big like your _onee-sama_?"

Kazehana by this point had one of those men in the store talking to her, teasingly yet clearly laying his excited hands down with a well-placed finger. Minato was starting to fidget a little.

"Yes!" Ku's response was immediate.

"Then you need protein, vitamins, and lots, _and_ _lots_ , of dairy," Kagedansu said, shooting a perplexed 'What?' look at Minato's protective glare. "Find yourself a bottle of milk, kid. You'll be glad you did."

Ku hurried off to do so, leaving Minato and Kagedansu to watch as Kazehana strode up to them.

"No need to pay," she informed them, gesturing to the half-awake man near the register. "The kind gentleman has us covered."

Kagedansu pursed his lips. "That's not fair…"

"What's wrong with a little charity?" Kazehana smiled. "Wasn't it nice of him to offer?"

"I'm pretty sure he thought he was taking a different offer…" Kagedansu grumbled. Kazehana saw his look somewhat reflected in her Ashikabi.

"I don't know _what_ you're talking about," she said coyly, holding up a small bottle of milk and a far larger bottle of sake. "Now let's and leave. I'm ready for breakfast."

" _Yes. Let's_ ," Minato muttered anxiously, somehow keeping his teeth unclenched.

The stranger did indeed pay for their drinks, and was dumb enough to take Kazehana's evasive "If only there were more men like you" while standing still and allowing them to leap off.

Kazehana suggested a roof, oddly enough, and as soon as they touched down she blitzed Minato's mouth so hard that he fell over on to his back. The hard landing was contrasted by the soft mass of the woman that lay on top of him, cataloging the texture and aroma of the cavern that lay past his lips. Minato's tongue did the same, a moan of pleasure reverberating from Kazehana as two feathered arrays of light unfurled from her Sekirei crest.

On the side, confiscating Kusano's drink before she succeeded in crushing it, Kagedansu suddenly got an itch between his shoulder blades, which he was quick to scratch. And Kusano was quick to suggest, in a friendly manner, that he should use some of that skin lotion she always saw Kazehana putting on, before resuming the angry glower at her big sister.

Minato decided to break from Kazehana's surprise make-out session when her hand began absent-mindedly slinking fingers around his wrist. He'd been with her enough to know where she would put it, and how she managed to block everything (including Ku's presence) out when they were kissing.

Kazehana drunkenly opened her eyes, though her sake had yet to be touched, and turned her less amorous attentions towards Sixty-Seven.

"Now what was that about 'unfair'?" Kazehana playfully accused him.

"What's unfair is that I can't use feminine wiles to get what _I_ want," he sulked, curling his fingers in anguish. "It's so… So…! But I can't make it happen…"

"Oh, I don't know," Kazehana teased him, glancing at Minato before continuing. "I hear a lot about the things surgery can do these days."

"You're _**absolutely**_ right!" Kagedansu exclaimed enthusiastically (a little unnervingly so). "First thing I do when I get back to the Inn is find Six and ask how _he_ feels about-"

"On second thought, don't bother," Kazehana sighed.

"Oh, no-no-no, if there is _anyone_ who's an expert on swapping genders-"

"Do I have to whip out my wiles again, big boy?" she asked, sitting back on her heels and straddling Minato's waist. "There's a lot of guys on the sidewalk who'd love to throw money my way."

"Alright. We'll call it a draw." Sixty-Seven finally uncapped his drink. "Cheers!"

The three adults clunked bottles together before taking a long draught. Kusano didn't know what that was about but she wanted to do it anyway, and with Big Brother. Because she wanted to, that was why.

"What about Musubi and Tsukiumi-nee?" Ku asked, her hand rotating but failing to take the bottle cap with it. "And Matsu?"

"Well, if they want food bad enough," Kagedansu said, preparing to take a long swig on his own drink, "they'll think of something."

"If Musubi doesn't spill it to the landlady," Kazehana jested, earning a laugh from Minato.

"But how would she spill her milk if she doesn't have it yet?" Kusano inquired, a fresh white mustache on her lip, which she quickly cleaned off with her tongue.

Now it was Kazehana's turn to chortle. "Not what I meant, Ku."

"Then what did you me-eeean?!" All these things people meant that didn't mean what Ku thought they did! Why couldn't everyone just talk normally?!

"Sometimes, Ku… Um…" Minato trailed off, as he realized he was about to make a case for lying, and Kusano didn't need that at her young age.

"Sometimes we keep things from people, because we know it would hurt to tell them," Kagedansu explained. "Or because we need to do something and they might try and stop it, and we don't want them to."

"So, lie to them?" the Green Girl asked.

Minato facepalmed. _Kagedansu, why do you do this to me?_

"Not necessarily," the Sekirei said. "Sometimes, just not tell them."

"But that's lying, too, right?"

" _ **Okay, let's talk about the second match!"**_ Minato exploded, which thankfully the busy sounds of Tokyo soaked up.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Kazehana said, still keeping him trapped beneath her ivory thighs. "Knowing Minaka, he'll only take as much time between matches as he needs to. Time for us to recover, then time for us to train up a little, and after that, everyone fights again."

"Any idea what he might plan for the next one?" Kagedansu asked.

Three shook her head, taking another swig of sake. "If he has a plan, I guarantee it's a crazy one. To figure him out, you'd need someone just as crazy."

"Well, then what's the problem?" Kagedansu shook Minato's shoulder. "This guy _surrounds_ himself with crazy people!"

Three raised an eyebrow. "And am I on that list?"

The proverbial waste-matter in Kagedansu's grin was sickening. " _Yes_."

"In what way?" Kazehana's amusement was starting to wane a little.

"Don't play dumb," he said, poking her shoulder with his finger. "You know _exactly_ what way I mean."

Kazehana mused on that for a moment. The next moment, she'd turned to Minato.

"Mind if I have some?" she asked, pointing to his drink.

"Uh, sure, just let me mmph!"

He still tasted of chocolate protein shake. Which, in Kazehana's mind, was nothing compared to her Ashikabi's natural flavor.

"Delicious," she said, licking her lips and leaning in to whisper, " _and so am I, if you ever want me_."

Kagedansu flashed them both a thumbs-up. "' _Roll_ with the madness,' says I."

Minato was pretty sure that wasn't correct English, and prayed he hadn't caught Kazehana's little self-promotion, but he soon ceased caring as the beautiful woman straddling his lap began kissing him again.

Ku, meanwhile, was fuming steam out of her ears and her face was filling up like a red-hot coal furnace. She felt a nudge from Kagedansu.

"Let it go, kid. You'll get yours when you're older."

"Why can't I get it right now?!"

"Well, you see, Ku, when a man and woman-"

Kazehana beat Minato to the punch, tearing her face from Minato's to glare at the larger Sekirei. " **Don't.** **You. Dare.** "

This only made Kusano madder, until Kagedansu leaned down, and muttered, "I'll tell you all about it after I'm done wearing him out." Of course, he waited until Minato's attentions were once again elsewhere.

Only to command those attentions when he stepped in to separate Kusano's older siblings.

"Alright, break it up! We don't have all day!" Rather than pick the woman up, Kagedansu elected to slide Minato out from underneath her.

"Don't we, though?" Kazehana leaned back and took another swig of sake, uttering a satisfied sigh. "What's stopping us?"

"If Miya finds us, I have a feeling she'll be more thorough in the punishing," Kagedansu countered.

"Yeah," Minato added, scratching the back of his head and trying his best to chuckle the anxiety away. "It probably won't do us any favors if we get caught."

"So it _is_ bad!" Ku piped up. "Landlady-sama's going to be mad when she finds out!"

Kagedansu looked down at her. "This, Kusano, is what we call 'being a rebel'. Tell her in a couple of weeks and she probably won't care by then."

Ku looked up at him warily. "Promise?"

"Promise," Kagedansu repeated, before lightly elbowing Minato in the back.

"Uh, yeah," Minato said. "Wait, no! Rgh…" He clutched his head.

"Look, it's going to come up _someday_ ," Kazehana said. "Why teach her one thing on Tuesday just so she can unlearn it on Saturday?"

" _ **Zigackly!**_ " There it was again: that strange word Kagedansu used like it was common Japanese. Or common English. Or common.

"Okay, you win, can we just get back to breakfast now?" Minato sighed.

"Uh-uh!" Kagedansu shoved Minato's shoulder so hard the Ashikabi almost dropped his drink. "You think you're right? Think you know better than me?!"

Their faces were now inches away from each other.

"Then _**LEMME HEAR IT!**_ "

Minato massaged his temples, but to no avail: his head was still ringing from that point-blank bellow.

"It's not worth arguing about," Minato said. "Not before noon." A pair of knuckles rapped him on the forehead.

"You really gotta learn to stop folding like this, Minato," Kagedansu scolded. "How are you supposed to stop a guy from taking your wallet if you can't even lodge a complaint?"

Minato chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Then I guess it'll be worth arguing about," he laughed softly.

"Ku doesn't understand," said the Green Girl.

"Well, if we _all_ did, Ku," Kazehana said, patting the girl on the head, "then we wouldn't have to talk about it, now would we?"

Ku pondered this, then nodded and went back to her drink.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You guys know it's only a matter of time before Tsukiumi finds us, right?" Minato commented, stumbling a bit but saved by Kazehana's cleavage anchoring his upper arm. It's a good thing they were in public, surrounded on all sides by pedestrians and cars and concrete structures; without them, Minato might forget just how lucky he was to have a woman like Kazehana fawning over him.

If looks could kill, he knew he'd be a small red stain on the bottom of someone's front tire. All these guys giving him the envy-flavored death-glare would make sure to spread him across as much asphalt as possible.

When Kagedansu had suggested that they take the long road home (a.k.a. "walking"), Minato had been the only one to object. The girls were in no hurry hand Minato back to the other three at the Inn.

"More exercise," Kagedansu said. "Plus if we get mugged, I can show you the ropes first-hand."

"What ropes?" Ku asked, from Minato's other side, seated in his arm and her little fingers hooked on his shoulders.

The three turned to look at her, mildly bewildered.

"You understood that, Ku?" Minato asked.

"No," Ku replied. She paused, then did her best to raise an eyebrow. "If Ku understood, then she wouldn't ask, now would she?"

Kazehana laughed, making her breasts jiggle. She could feel the goosebumps forming where her sensitive skin caressed her husband's own.

"Fair enough, Ku," Kazehana replied. "Your big brother just didn't know you could understand English."

"Matsu and Uzume taught me!" Ku chirped, smiling. "They're great teachers! Ku learned all sorts of words from them!"

"But," Kagedansu challenged, taking an extra-long step before facing them and beginning to walk backwards, "did she teach you any songs?"

The little girl shook her head. "Ku never asked."

" _ **PERFECT!**_ " Kagedansu's finger shot into the air as he heel-turned back around. "Then I have top seedling!"

"'Seedring'?" Ku started pulling on Minato, urging him to get her close to Kagedansu.

"Figure of speech, Ku," Kazehana informed her, before allowing her head to fall upon Minato's shoulder once more. "Though Kagedansu got it wrong."

"Like how we're going to lie to the Landlady-sama?"

 _Urrrrrgh…_ There was just no way she was going to let this go now, was there?

"Well, think of it this way, Ku," Kazehana interjected softly, her eyes looking ready to doze off. "Were you hungry?"

"Yes."

"And we were, too. Will Miya find out about this?"

Kusano thought for a moment. "Yes?"

"And how mad do you think Miya will be if she finds out?" Kazehana asked.

"An interesting question, Kazehana," joked an all-too-familiar widow's voice.

The trio's skin turned blue from how fast they all froze, Ku yanking on her Ashikabi's hand as she was brought to a sudden halt. She knew they were in trouble, the other three knew they were in _deep shee-it_.

"M-Miya," Kazehana swiveled around, her breasts bursting from between her body and Minato's arm as she fearfully hugged her Ashikabi. "What a nice surprise."

"It certainly is," Miya replied cheerfully, the public eye finally being exposed to the abject terror that was the Landlady of Izumo Inn and her demonic visage. "For me."

"O-oh?" Kazehana stuttered, slowly shuffling back as quietly as her high-heels would allow, before bumping into the wall that was Kagedansu. "Why not for everyone?"

Miya opened her eyes. Despair and hopelessness oozed forth, like the ethereal nothing that came from the pores and maws of Dread Azathoth's slumbering mass. With basket and the produce within, a black cloak would've seen her become the old hag from Snow White, vending her poison wares to any that were fool enough to face her.

"Because not everyone is being as honest and upstanding as I believed."

She had them.

"Imagine my surprise when, while going to shop for groceries, I happen upon not one but _three_ of my tenants."

Raw, steely tendrils…

"Flagrantly going against my wishes and trying to escape their punishment."

Crushing the very life out of their hearts, constricting them like a massive serpent, slowly forcing them to stop beating, to let fear overwhelm them, rather than stand there and stare down their landlady's beaming ire. From the entropic light of Miya's eyes flowed a soul-crushing abyss, consuming and devouring the world around it as it gnawed and gnashed its salwan teeth at the mortals in its grasp.

Finally, one mortal stepped forward.

"It was me, Miya-sama," Kagedansu said, swaying around the rest, limber as an eel.

Miya raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yep," he quipped with a nod. "I kidnapped Minato, I hauled him to the gas station, I convinced him to go behind your back and eat because he would need the calories for the day _to keep from turning into a skeleton-"_

The hanya's visage flared once again, but the brakes had long fallen off the Shadow Sekirei's train.

"- _so I decided to pull the single greatest job in the history of cookie-jar-heists and stage a coup d'etat because_ _ **what honest-to-goodness person starves a man for what someone else corking did?!**_ "

"Okay, just stop!" cried a certain former _ronin_.

Minato disentangled himself from Kazehana's fearful cleavage and left her to stand on her own, for he strolled up and put himself between Kagedansu and the exasperated Landlady.

"It was actually me, Miya-sama," he uttered, his torso wobbling as he did his best to bow. "I complained to Kagedansu about there being no food and he finally agreed to take me to get some. Kazehana and Ku were just there to keep me company, and I still talked them into going behind your back."

He reset himself and bowed more deeply, getting a perfect view of his shivering knees.

"I'm s-sorry, Miya-sama. I shouldn't have broken your rules in the first place."

"Yet you will continue to do so," Miya stated simply, "for you have no intention of stopping your Sekirei from sneaking in and performing illicit acts under my roof. You will continue to be complicit in their actions, Minato, and thus continue to violate my rules."

Minato swallowed. "But I didn't."

There was silence. From the cold shiver creeping down his spine, Minato didn't _dare_ look up.

"What was that?" asked his judge.

"I d-didn't b...b-break your rules, Miya-sama." Minato had no idea where he was getting all these words from; they just seemed to be bubbling up and thus far, he had no alternatives to go for. "I always stay in my room, I never t-tell my Sekirei to-" He swallowed again. "To sneak in, or sleep with me, or do anything… like _that_."

He pursed his lips for a moment, afraid Miya might order of him with what he said next."The only thing I could do is lie to them and say I don't enjoy their company."

A small green dress entered his left peripheral vision. "And if Miya-sama can't stop them, how can Big Brother?" Ku added.

Minato saw nothing, just that aura of glacial enmity continuing to anchor him to the sidewalk. Miya wasn't saying anything, the ambient semi-urban sounds of this part of Neo Tokyo enveloping their lopsided back-and-forth as the landlady's only response. The anticipation, the _tension_ , it was eating him alive like a burrowing parasite.

"We'll talk more about this when we return to my Inn," Miya finally said. "After you finish your training regimen, of course."

She brushed a stray lock of hair past her shoulder, and without another word, resumed her trek back to her lovely abode.

Minato's legs finally gave out and he collapsed face-first on to the concrete, his butt on his heels, clutching his head and uttering a low "Urrrrrrrrr…"

Once his lungs had run out of air, he felt the blunt big toe of a foot nudge the side of his thigh. Putting his hands to the ground on either side of his head, he raised himself back up and looked at the man that greeted him.

"See?" Kagedansu said, a closed-lip grin on his face. "Now was that so hard?"

Minato's fist socked Kagedansu squarely in the pectoral; he didn't even budge.

"Please," Minato sighed, completely drained from the abject terror he'd just experienced, "can we just go back now?"

Kagedansu's eyes narrowed, his lips pursed just enough to form an intrigued smile.

"Absolutely," he said softly, taking Minato by the wrist and slowly forcing his hand down. "Let's see if we can put that hostility to work…"

And from behind, the remaining two Sekirei watched their Ashikabi resume. Kusano now had a better understanding of what Kagedansu had meant, when he said there were times when it was okay to lie.

But Kazehana? It was taking every ounce of self-control to not grab Minato and drag him to the nearest love-hotel for the most intense round of passion he'd ever feel. And that was _solely_ because such displays weren't allowed in public. She'd seen first hand the size and girth of Minato's manliness, but what had just happened? That was news, even to her, and it was getting her hot and bothered like a wooly mammoth sunbathing in the Sahara.

Instead, she decided to wait. She _had_ to tell the others about this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Surely, thou jest!"

"Oh, not at all," Kazehana said, pouring herself another cup and watching the quartet below. "You should've seen it, Tsukiumi. I was there, and I almost couldn't believe it when it happened."

The Wind Sekirei began to swoon. "Haaah, but it _did_ happen! He was so manly!"

"Yes," Tsukiumi murmured, though not to Homura, smiling down at her husband, if not how amusing it was to see Kazehana so shamelessly rendered prone. "Minato _doth_ have a certain bravado to him at times."

Nearby, Homura huffed. "I have to wonder how long it'll take before that bravado gets you guys thrown out."

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it." Number Three gulped down her drink and hissed as she reveled in its burning flow. "Aaah, this midday sake really hits the spot."

"What doth the time of day have to do with thine indulgence, thou drunken wastrel?" Tsukiumi scoffed, folding her arms and turning away, so Kazehana wouldn't see she was still slightly smiling. "Thou woult drink when the rooster crows."

"Or sleeps," Homura added.

Kazehana laughed. "I'll drink to both!"

Aaaand the smile was gone.

Down below, both Miya and Kagedansu instructed their pupils on the art of war. For Musubi, that meant defense. She was still trying to figure out that darn secret, the one that would let her catch Miya's sword during an overhead slash.

"Ow!" Musubi yelped, another lump starting to form on her head. "I don't understand! I did it before!" She paused, then drooped a little. "Well, kind of…"

"When was this?" Miya inquired, flicking her sheath to one side. Of those gathered, only Kazehana and Matsu knew the story behind that little habit of their landlady's. But Matsu was back inside, doing another scouring of the city for any signs of Hametsu, who hadn't shown himself since the first match a few days prior.

"In the forest," Musubi replied. "I caught Number 43's scythe when she tried to hurt Minato."

"Aa-agh!"

Musubi turned to see what had made Minato cry out. Turns out, Minato's latest punch had missed Kagedansu's hand and collided with his teacher's left cheekbone. Unsurprisingly, the frontal skull region of a Sekirei beat out the much smaller, brittle bones of a human.

Miya smiled and nodded. "I see. You drew power from your bond; your concern for Minato honed your speed, as well as your reaction time."

"So…" Something clicked. "Oh, I see!"

Musubi turned to where Minato was wringing out his hand. "Minato, punch him again!"

" _Why?!_ " he squawked.

"It'll help me master sword-catching!" Musubi chirped. She clasped her hands in front of her pelvis. "Pleeease?"

From the way her cute, girlish face was looking at him, and how her arms were reminding him of how stacked she was, Minato almost went along with her idea.

That is, until Miya bopped Musubi on the head with her sheathe.

"Ow!" Musubi rubbed her head and turned around.

"You expect to catch my sword when you can't see it?" Miya chuckled.

Musubi's head drooped again. "No…"

The snapping of fingers brought Minato's attention back to his own training.

"Eighty-Eight's got a point, and that last shot brought up something we need to address," said Kagedansu. "That was a perfect punch, but there was something…" He paused, his eyes darting to one side. "Stand up straight."

Apparently, Minato's 'straight' wasn't up to snuff, because he immediately felt the wedge of a thumb-knuckle prodding him all over.

"Stomach in! Chest out! Don't let your chin slouch!" Kagedansu reamed. "Look up when you stand-to! No, not at the sky, at _me!_ "

 _Where was_ this _coming from,_ Minato wondered.

"Now lemme have it!" Kagedansu ordered, poking himself just below the cheek, at the soft flesh that lay beneath the bone.

"… Why?"

"Because the punks you fight won't be made of sandbags and pads," replied the Sekirei. "Now hop to it!"

Minato raised his guard, and did as he was told, floating from his left foot to his right, bobbing up and down like he'd seen professional fighters do in movies.

"No, not hop like some pink bunny rabbit!" his sensei barked. "I mean _hit me!_ "

And like those fighters, Minato sent a quick jab at Kagedansu's cheek. His aim was dead-on, his knuckles socketing just in front of the jaw hinge, and he could feel the teeth behind the soft flesh.

"What is this, a spitball parade?" Kagedansu's critique was uncharacteristically imaginative. "You got a solid chance of knocking out a ladybug with that punch."

Minato closed his eyes to concentrate, let Kagedansu's words wash over him, and received a light rap on the forehead for his trouble.

"Anyone home?" Kagedansu's hands beckoned him forth. "No nap-time until I see some of that hostility!"

His sensei wasn't making this easy for the former _ronin_ not to spoil. Minato tried a right-cross, which he'd been taught was a more powerful knock-out punch than a jab or a hook.

"You trying to offend me, boy?! Because it's working!"

Minato did an impression of a frog as a gust of air escaped from between his lips. He didn't _dare_ ; Kagedansu was trying so hard.

And then Kagedansu stuck his nose in Minato's face and laid out the final straw.

" **Come on, lemme see your** _ **war face!**_ "

That was all Minato could take, and he clutched his stomach and started laughing. He laughed until his Sekirei all stopped to give him looks of slightly varying degrees of worry, because by that point tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"Sahashi-san."

Kagedansu's first attempt to get through to him fell on deaf ears. Minato was on all fours now; his instructor's impression had been so ramrod serious that it circled all the way back around to ridiculous.

" _Sahashi._ "

Minato couldn't help it. He wondered he'd suffocate and never get a chance to apologize.

A gust of wind heralded the arrival of one rooftop observer, nudging his twitching form with her now-empty bottle. "I think you broke him."

"Is Minato gonna be okay?" Musubi asked, bending over her Ashikabi. She swiveled her head to look up at Kagedansu. "Can you fix him?"

"Yeah," came the angry mutter of Sixty-Seven. "I'll fix him."

And he did. With a fist to the gut that expelled all the air from Minato's lungs.

"Kagedansu!" Musubi yelled. "That wasn't what I meant at all!"

Sixty-Seven ignored her, and what came out of his mouth was heard by all the neighboring households.

" _ **You gotta be RUTHLESS, kid!**_ " Sixty-Seven thundered. " _There are guys out there who would rip your guts out, take your wallet, rape your date and leave you lynched on your own intestines!_ "

Kagedansu leaned in real close. "As casually as you'd throw out a gum wrapper."

He grabbed Minato by the hair and hauled him to his feet.

"Now I want you to start punching." His tone was quiet, the previous explosion now balled up inside him and leaking out in a trickle. "And don't stop until you actually mean it. _**MATSU!**_ "

The Shadow Sekirei crossed his arms and began rhythmically tapping his big toe. Sure enough, a pink-robed form slid the back door open and for the first time that day allowed the sunlight to touch her. Accompanying her (or rather, clinging to her leg for fear of what she might see her Big Brother doing) was Kusano.

"You hollered?" Matsu grinned, before catching a torso-sized, square-shaped punching pad that was tossed her way.

"Hold that until he means it."

"And how am I supposed to know if he 'means it'?" Matsu asked, looking not at all puzzled so much as skeptical.

"You're his Sekirei," came the response. "I think you'll know."

A hand smacked against Minato and sent him stumbling towards Matsu. It gave Tsukiumi a brief flashback to the fight of her marriage.

"Get punching," Kagedansu ordered.

With that, Minato did as he was told, mechanically thrusting his hand forward and landing a solid _smack_ onto the black leather. He looked towards his sensei, who was still glowering at him with that look of sheer, utter disappointment. At that moment, Kagedansu looked like he could give Minato's mother a run for her money.

He hit the bag again, but Kagedansu's expression didn't change. A third time saw his nose wrinkle a little and his pursed lips shrink further into frustration. Upon strike #6, Kagedansu marched across the yard over to the porch and sat down next to Tsukiumi.

"Urrgh, this kid…" His large hands cupped his face from the cheeks-up. "Drivin' me _nuts_ …"

Tsukiumi looked back to where Minato continued punching, moving down his body with her eyes, watching the way his limbs moved and twisted as he struck. Matsu held the back, the most receptive to Minato's strikes given her weaker physique, though The Perverted Sekirei seemed to be deriving some sickening arousal from the blows to the bag. Was she a masochist?

"He hath improved since we wed, even more since first crossed our paths." Tsukiumi smiled, proud of her husband and herself for their sound judgement. "Per thy instruction, his body behaving as it should."

It was then that Tsukiumi wound her way back up to Minato's face, and began to gather what it was Kagedansu had been trying to instill.

"His technique is fine," said the brawler, taking his hands off his face so he could lean on his knees. "It's his attitude that's the problem."

Tsukiumi frowned. "Wherefore?"

"The short answer is, 'he's too passive'."

"Fact, but thou hast known since before thy stewardship began," Tsukiumi said. "Didst thou intend his stripes change on a whim?"

"Tell you the truth, I'm more the fool for getting my hopes up," Kagedansu grunted. "I've just… _Never_ seen someone throw an empty punch like that, all while doing it perfect. Where's the aggression? The… the _hunger_? Vrrr, it just doesn't… _feel_ right."

"Thy memory faileth thee," Tsukiumi rebutted, looking to where Musubi obliviously continued swinging at Miya. "Musubi harbors no fury when she fights, yet her blows bear more power than most, and I leave myself not from that sentiment."

She looked to her rival, who was sparring with the Landlady. Musubi had the opposite dilemma to their Ashikabi: plenty of spirit, lax technique. She was hopping and jumping from toe to toe like a boxer, but when time came to strike she relied heavily on her natural Sekirei strength, powering through with her fists or barreling into a heavy but stumbling blow for her knock-out attempts.

"Thy choice of word was most poignant: 'hunger'. Tis a feeling that taketh many forms."

If Tsukiumi had been looking at her conversation partner at that moment, she would've seen the light bulb go off in his head; not just lighting up, the thing _exploded_.

"Yeaaah…" he rumbled, slowly climbing to his feet and beginning to pace, oblivious to the sounds of Musubi swinging at Miya. " _Oo yeah_."

Tsukiumi could see the wheels in his head turning, a slightly devious look in his eye that brought back many old, _vexing_ memories of her latter years with her adjuster.

A big, jolly smirk across his face, Kagedansu about-faced and looked at his equally-blonde counterpart. "Tsukiumi, you are going to _hate_ me for what I'm about to unleash."

" _Explain thyself!_ " she snapped. Several meters away, Minato ceased his monotonous punching and glanced Tsukiumi's way.

"Relax!" Kagedansu strode past her and into the house, heading for the kitchen. "Minato's gonna be fine."

"I ordered thee to explain, not assure." Tsukiumi's hair began to roil, her eyes narrowing. Kagedansu noticed not, for his destination was more specifically the fridge.

"In fact, when we're through…" he began, opening the door and sticking his head inside, before uttering a disappointed rasp. "Nghh, she doesn't have any. You'd think I'd know better, but nope!"

"Allow me to rephrase," Tsukiumi growled, her teeth as clenched as her fist. "Spill thy guts or take a short but violent bath."

"Really putting me on the spot here," he said, before his lips pursed and the sinews in his neck bulged. The English that came out sounded like it was scraping against a grindstone. " _Unjustifiably in a position that I'd rather not be in…!_ "

That's when he produced a liter-sized container of half-and-half, unopened.

"But the _CREEAMM_ ," he said, balancing it on his head, "will _riiise_ to the top, oh yeah."

For the first time since he'd met her, the man with a dairy concoction sitting atop his cranium saw a look of genuine, unsettled concern in Tsukiumi's eyes.

"What spore of madness is this?" she asked, laying the back of her hand across Kagedansu's forehead. "Sekirei are not ones prone to maladies. Hast Hametsu done this to thee?"

"Macho Madness, _yeah_ ," Kagedansu rasped, making Tsukiumi jump a little.

"Thou art certain?"

"Oh, I'm _dead_ certain, _yeah._ " That cream was still on his head as he thrust a finger into the air. " _AND I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT THERE IS NO ONE THAT DOES IT BETTER_ , _yeah_ , but then you'd have to call me a _liar_."

"I recant my request," Tsukiumi said, a small feeling of nausea growing in her stomach. "I've no wish to know what thou hast in store for my husband."

"What he needs," Kagedansu said, finally taking the cream off of his head and punctuating what he said with a waggling finger, "is a little excitemen _ **t**_ _._ "

From his emphasis on the letter "t", Tsukiumi's first inkling was to go outside and find her husband, leaving Kagedansu free to enact whatever half-brained scheme had afflicted him.

"And now," Kagedansu rasped, "not only the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt must fall…"

Fortunately, Minato was right where they'd left him: punching that square, convex-bent pad. And much to Tsukiumi's ire, Matsu seemed to be relishing the impacts.

Off in the distance, her Sekirei ears could still hear the mad rantings. " _-but the Worrrrld Heavyweight Championship Belt!_ "

"Minato, I must speak with thee," Tsukiumi said simply.

"Okay." He relaxed himself.

"I fear that Kagedansu may be slipping closer to insanity than first seemed," she said, biting her thumb. "I wished not to intervene, as I agreed with his teachings-"

"You agreed with him punching me in the stomach?" Minato asked, confused.

"… In a sense, yes."

Somehow, that made Minato's insides feel worse than any blow ever could.

"What?! Why?!" Ku was there. "You _want_ Big Brother to get hurt?"

"Tis not the point," Tsukiumi countered, addressing the pint-sized Sekirei. "Kagedansu was correct insofar as to cultivate his anger, and pain is one such way to do it. I see now that my husband cares not for his own safety, hence why no response was given."

"I'm standing right here, you know…" Minato mumbled.

"Tis likewise known," Tsukiumi continued, "that to strike a friend without cause is not the way of thy teacher, Minato. Now threefold have I learnt this, and twice of that this very day."

"When did he-" Minato stopped, remembering: that drop on his head. And… "When he punched you. To stop you from chasing Hametsu."

Tsukiumi folded her arms and looked away. "I saw no cause to mention it outright…" she lied.

"But now I fear for what comes next," Tsukiumi told him. "Kagedansu admitted that he hath lost himself to insanity, and hath made it a point of pride to declare so. To my face, no less!"

"Well, what kind of insanity are we talking about here?" Minato asked. "I mean, you of all people would probably know it best."

A vein bulge on Tsukiumi's forehead from how hard she was clenching her fists, jaw and arms. " _And just what dost thou mean by that?!_ "

Minato did _not_ shrink, and instead pecked a finger in her direction. "That's what I mean be that."

Just like that, the tension was out. "I seek not to harm thee, Minato, despite what mine anger may suggest," Tsukiumi said. "I…" She looked away.

He laid a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to talk about it, Tsukiumi."

"No." He felt a soft finger press on his lips. "I shall have words with thee, my husband. At a later time."

The finger was then retracted. "But my thoughts become clouded; Kagedansu hath lost his mind!"

"I thought you just agreed," Matsu said, joining them, "that Kagedansu's training is just weird, not crazy."

"He hath not confessed his own madness before," Tsukiumi countered. "Tis unlike him."

"Oh, come on!" Matsu dropped the pad and turned to her Ashikabi. "Minato, you don't actually believe this, do you?"

"Weeelll…" He didn't have pockets to stick his hands in, so instead he slipped his thumbs inside his waistband.

"Oh, come on!" Matsu flung her hands (and sleeves) widespread in bafflement. "What _possible_ reason could you have for thinking that?"

"Because he told me that Uzume was The Veiled Sekirei like it was nothing."

He waited for a retort, but none came.

He glanced to Matsu, then to Tsukiumi, and it was only after he fully grasped how wide and in shock their eyes looked that he realized the entire yard had fallen eerily silent.

"Uzume-san's not a bad person," Ku sniffled, a little teary-eyed. She went over and tugged on Minato's pant leg. "Right?"

Miya felt a similar tug on her sleeve, this one from Musubi. "Right?"

Of the two, neither Minato nor Miya had a good answer. The best Kazehana could do was lift the Green Girl and let her sob into her _onee-sama's_ left shoulder. Up on the roof, Homura had taken flight to anywhere but here. Things had just gotten _really_ complicated for him, and given his body, that was saying something.

Finally, Tsukiumi spoke up. "I wish not to question his honesty, but how dost thou know Kagedansu spoke true?"

"It's true," Matsu said, looking down. "I cracked Number 10's profile last night before I went to sleep. Uzume's definitely her."

"How convenient," Tsukiumi replied scornfully, her eyes narrowing slightly. "After how many hours of failure?"

Matsu shrugged, her head beginning to hang low. "It was a Trojan program in my computer. No need to shore it up, now that the cat's out of the bag." She sighed, a single tear dripping down her cheek. "I shouldn't have dragged her in…"

"Into what?" Minato sullenly inquired.

The Wisdom Sekirei shook her head. "I really don't wanna talk about it, not right now."

So, that was two conversations he'd have later.

There was silence for a moment, before Musubi broke the ice.

"I think I want to go back to training, Miya-sama."

The landlady nodded, raising her blade once more. "Of course, Musubi. I'm always happy to."

Musubi had the right idea; Minato picked the black pad off the ground and handed it back to Matsu.

"Let's keep going. Don't want Kagedansu to come back and yell at me again, right?"

Matsu did her best to smile, but she couldn't quite muster the strength. It was easier to let Minato hold the bag, trying to get aroused at feeling her Ashikabi's strength. It didn't work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was now late in the afternoon, with the orange tint of sunset just starting to dye the sky. To Minato's credit, all that conditioning and strength-building he'd done in the weeks prior had paid off. Only hours after he'd started did he finally wear out, which surprised even himself, and his watchful Sekirei.

That and Matsu had let him take a few breathers. Despite how much she loved feeling Minato exert his strength on her, he was still a human being. Besides, what Kagedansu didn't know couldn't hurt her, right?

"Just a little more?" Matsu pleaded, the weight on her heart and throat still lingering. "One more good hit, Mina-tan. You owe it to yourself."

"I can't go on," Minato huffed, cranking his right arm around and releasing a few minute crackling sounds from the shoulder joint. "One more punch and my arm'll snap."

At that moment, a sunglasses-wearing, red-cowboy-hat-adorned head, complete with what appeared to be leopard fur around the base of the crown, popped up from outside the fence.

"Did you say 'snap'?"

There it was: that throaty, gravelly voice that Tsukiumi had come to dread.

There was a loud crash as several meters' worth of picket fence went flying into the yard. Now that they all had a good look at him, the man who stood behind it was wearing a pair of sunglasses… No, more like a dark-tinted snorkeling mask, given the shape, just without the rubber strap or the nose cover. A series of blunted yellow zigzags, like sideways stalagmites, adorned the outsides of each lens. Or rather, the outsides of _the_ lens, as it was all one piece of plastic. And covering his jaw, all the way up to his ear on either side, was what appeared to be black marker, scribbled on to affect the look of a beard.

But even more ridiculous was his outfit. Minato didn't know _where_ that kind get-up was sold in Tokyo, or how Kagedansu had found one that fit, but the overwhelming red on the buckskin jacket along with the pants and boots, complete with the same zigzagging yellow trim as adorned the glasses, almost made him overlook the most ridiculous thing of all.

Beyond the outfit, beyond the sunglasses, beyond the sheer "what-the-hell-is-going-on" that was stampeding through the synapses of everyone in the yard, was that both feet of the red-hatted man were firmly on the ground.

That hadn't been a kick which destroyed the fence; the wooden boards had exploded _by themselves_.

"Kagedansu," Miya asked cordially, that frightening demonic visage appearing behind her, "is there a reason you've ruined my fence?"

The Shadow Sekirei didn't seem to hear. He was too focused on pulling a vacuum-sealed stick of jerky out from within his jacket, with a statement to make on what he would do with it.

" _SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!_ "

 _Khik!_ **Boom.**

Minato spun, the sound of the southward explosion faint but _very_ distinct. "What was-"

" _TEARINTOTHESPICE!"_

The former ronin fell over when he found Kagedansu's frame mere inches away from his own. What pressed against his left hand, upon landing, felt eerily slim and jim-like.

"W-wuh-" He held up his hand to find not only was there a Slim Jim clutched in it, but it had been opened and unblemished by the grass.

" _That BEEFY, JUICY TASTE!_ "

By now, Minato's brain had overloaded from all the shouting and booming noises and the fact that Kagedansu was dressed like _that_ , and thus did as he was asked.

 _Khik!_ **FWOOM!**

Now the sound came from his left, towards the east end of the city. A chaotic plume of smoke was rolling up from the harbor, looking like someone had set off a giant, coal-filled cannon.

"What was that?" Musubi and Minato asked, Musubi far less alarmed by it.

Kageansu slapped Minato on the back, watching the smoke rise from the direction of the latest explosion.

"There's a _word_ for somethin' like that… S'called ' _providence'_ , yeah. I'm talking all the way to the top, _yeah_. _AND THERE IS NOTHIN'…_ " He did a very slow 360-degree turn, like he was looking for something, before realizing it was right in front of him. "-that's gonna stop us now."

 _Khik!_

" _OOOOOO YEEAAAAHH!_ "

Tsukiumi eyed the other Sekirei from the porch, her eyes a little wider than normal.

 _He_ hath _lost his mind,_ she thought. But, on the other hand, Minato needed no convincing of that now.


	57. Magic Man

**Chapter 57: Magic Man**

No one in the yard could say just _how_ long it went on, everyone sitting silent as Kagedansu just stood there, dressed in his beef-flavored flamboyance as he nodded, slowly, almost like an analog metronome. Minato was the first to speak up.

"K-…" Nope, not _quiiite_ yet. Words failed him for a moment more; he wasn't alone in that affliction, as a few sputtered syllables came from what could've only been Tsukiumi's mouth. Finally, Minato's shock was brought to heel. "Kagedansu?"

" _Ye-ah?!_ "

"What's…" Minato used what was left of his Slim Jim to gesture to the Sekirei's new attire. "All this?"

" _Dis-"_ He half-grimaced, half-smiled as he spat the word out from between his teeth. "-is muh latest inspiration! The Tower of Power, too sweet to be sour-"

"No, I mean-"

Kagedansu placed a hand on Minato's chest. ""Hold on, lemme finish. A- _hum…_ Too hot to handle, too cold to hold, funky like a monkey and _space_ -"

" _ENOUGH OF THIS MADNESS!_ " Tsukiumi screeched.

" _Macho_ Madness, yeah," Kagedansu corrected as The Water Sekirei stormed over. "First word's very importan _ **t**_."

" _SPARE ME THY SEMANTICS!_ " The next fulcrum of Tsukiumi's ire was, as was too often the case, her husband. "Why dost thou remain?! What discourse remains to be had with thee?!"

Minato scratched the back of his head. "I… Well, Kagedansu said he'd train me, and from what little I've seen, I think I can get the hang of it. Even if he's…" The Ashikabi looked to his master, the Shadow Sekirei's lips pursed in a closed grin as he just kept nodding, over and over again.

Minato turned back to his wife. "The point is, I think he means it, and if he thinks this is part of my um... training, then I trust him."

Tsukiumi's ocean-blue eyes looked right into his own, as calm as the sea itself on a sunny day like today.

"And in thy venture, I support thee." Alas, sure enough, dark clouds started gathering. "But not at the expense of becoming a… _a…"_

Minato did not like the look of that eye-twitch.

" _LOUD-MOUTHED, LEOPARD-SPOTTED, SIMIAN PEACOCK!_ "

The Ashikabi warily opened one eye, then the other, to see that Kagedansu was taking the abuse rather well.

"Hey, you don't like it, _you_ train 'im," Kagedansu shrugged. "Though I don't think the Landlady's gunna go for it."

Miya leveled one of her sweet-and-bitter glares at the aforementioned peacock. "And why wouldn't I?"

He turned towards her. "See, when _I_ hit him, it's conditioning." He then jerked a thumb at Tsukiumi. "When _she_ hits him, it's do-mes-tic a-buse."

Tsukiumi would've clawed the face off Kagedansu right then and there, had Minato not leapt behind his angry blonde wife and seized her about the waist.

" _HOW_ DARE _THEE ASSUME I WOULD VISIT VIOLENCE UPON MY HUSBAND!"_ The Water Sekirei screamed, Kagedansu standing about three centimeter's outside her fingernails' range. " _I SHOULD PROVE THEE HALF-RIGHT AND FEED THY COLORS TO HOMURA'S FLAMES!"_

"I'm not your personal garbage disposal, Tsukiumi," Homura muttered from atop the roof.

 _Whack!_

"That's quite enough," Miya scolded the simmering blonde. "There will be no unsanctioned violence in my yard. On that note-"

Kagedansu already had his hat off and his head tilted forward.

 _Whack!_

"Thank-you, ma'am, may I have another?"

 _WHACK!_

"I expect my fence to be fixed immediately," the Landlady commanded. Readdressing Tsukiumi, who was still rubbing her sore cranium, "In any case, and I speak as a fellow teacher, the only thing your tantrum has shown is how uneven that temper of yours is. Perhaps it's something we should address when you trade off with Musubi."

Over on the side, Matsu, still clutching that punching-pad, was eying The Shadow Sekirei's noggin.

"Doesn't that hurt?" she muttered.

The peacock enthusiastically clenched his fist and enthusiastically whispered back, "Oo yeah."

"In the meantime," Miya continued, "see this as a test, Tsukiumi. All the power in the world is worthless without a focused mind to direct it."

Her mini-lecture ended, Miya left Tsukiumi to rub her tenderized cranium, failing to notice the Water Sekirei snuggle back into her Ashikabi's embrace. Kazehana noticed, though, as did Matsu, and while Minato got himself surrounded by women, Musubi's lesson continued.

And the bubbly brunette had yet another cunning plan to get stronger as she tilted her head forward. "Landlady, can I have one, too?"

 _Whap!_

The fist-type turned around and saw a little girl hanging onto a vine that Musubi _swore_ hadn't been there a second ago. Ku was clutching the top of it in her hand, like a tiny green bull rope.

"There you go, Musubi!" chirped the Green Girl.

 _One fence-job later…_

Minato swung and missed again, but that was the point. Still dressed in that _ludicrous_ get-up, Kagedansu was steering his student's punches away from his face, though not like how Minato had seen in most films and anime that he'd watched. "Wax-on, wax-off" was not the way of krav maga, for instead of pushing his punches outside, Kagedansu was instead sliding his hands across his face and moving his entire body out of the way, towards the same side each punch came from. He also turned towards the fist as it passed by, ever so slightly.

"Say, Kagedansu?" Minato asked, throwing another jab for the Sekirei to dodge. "If you don't mind, can you tell me why it's better to block this way?"

"Now, I can't say it with certainty," Kagedansu admitted, still light on his feet as Minato continued swinging, "but if I had to guess, it probably has something to do with _attack_."

The Shadow Sekirei lowered his arms, and Minato likewise did so.

"No, keep 'em up. This is something I gotta _show_ yeah."

Minato obeyed his master, and his arm was gripped by the wrist and pulled until it was fully extended. From there, Kagedansu waved his hand aside and turned towards Minato's hand as he'd been doing. There, he froze.

Kagedansu shook his blocking-hand. "The obvious reason is guarding. This way, if you fake a punch and I fall for it, I still have something between you and my face. The other reason-"

It was now that Minato noticed it: in blocking, Kagedansu had reared his opposite side back. And just as the Ashikabi predicted, this meant Kagedansu had more wind-up to throw a series of slow-motion counter-shots. The Sekirei called them out with each strike.

"Ribs-"

 _Bap._

"Guts-"

 _Bap._

"Head-"

 _Bap._

"Slim Jim."

Yet another long, phallic-looking snack swatted Minato on the nose.

Minato sighed. "Just how many of these do you-"

" _I SAID 'SLIM JIM'!_ "

Another huff of air tumbling from his mouth, Minato reluctantly took the meat-stick and began unwrapping it.

His teacher now had one of his own. "Now can I get an ' _OOOOH YEEAAAH!'?"_

Minato pursed his lips for a moment before answering. "Oh… Um…"

The teacher followed the student's gaze over to where several feminine forms were sitting. Two were giggling, one was glaring, and the last two were waiting on the edge of their behinds to hear Minato/Big Brother's warcry.

"… yeah?"

The glaring ceased, but the giggling crescendoed.

"Come on, Minato!" Musubi cheered, thrusting a fist in the air. "Get excited!" Beside her, Kusano mirrored her action.

Tsukiumi spun 'round like a spigot. "If thou hooligans so much as _think_ about encouraging such barbarism, of _my_ husband no less-"

"What does _that_ mean?" Musubi asked.

"Barbarism?" Tsukiumi nodded to where Kagedansu stood. "Gaze no further than yon madman."

"Okay," Musubi affirmed, doing so while shielding the setting sun from her eyes with her hand. "Now what?"

Back with the young Ashikabi, he took a bite out of the Slim Jim, then looked at his teacher. "I know you're just trying to help, but I don't see where this is supposed to be going."

"Where it's _goinnnng…_ " Kagedansu slowly swept his hands down in front of himself, before snapping them up to flex his biceps. "… Is t' somewhere around here."

Minato looked at those swollen chicken breasts that Kagedansu had stuck to his bones, then at the pitiful bamboo sticks attached to his _own_ shoulders, and then back at his teacher's sungoggles.

A weary sigh escaped his gums. "I don't think that's going to happen, Kagedansu."

The large Sekirei's lips twisted into a half-snarling sneer. "What's this now?"

Minato half-heartedly shrugged. "It just won't. I'm sorry, but…" He sighed, and sat down on the ground, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the rain gutter.

"I remember when everyone had their growth spurts back in junior high school," he mused regretfully. "I was the only one who didn't grow into my uniform. I was still taller than anyone else, but I always got pushed over because of how skinny I was. I had to have one custom made because the sleeves were always too baggy. Luckily Mom couldn't be bothered so I got mine without too much trouble, but all the other kids would make fun of me for needing a child's size. Even my own sister…"

A trio of shadows loomed over him.

"I mean, how long's it been since you started training me?" he continued. "Almost two weeks? I mean, I _feel_ a little stronger, and my arms haven't gotten bigger or anything. I understand getting in shape, and I appreciate how much you've worked me, but I've already tried to build muscle."

He shrugged his shoulders and limply lifted his arms. "This is how I look, and that's how it'll stay."

Looking up, two figures were blonde, those same two had their hands on their hips. The third had a gloved knuckle to her bottom lip, and she along with one of the blonde silhouettes had a really nice pair of-

"And thou callest thyself my Ashikabi."

Two hands, both of them female, gripped his collar and hauled him up.

"Art thou content?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"Content with what?"

"With thyself." The beautiful blonde gave him a look-over, indicating that he should do the same. "Thou sayest thy form is beyond hope, yet thou continue thy endeavor to grow stronger. Thou speakest of being mocked, yet thou art deferring to a walking storm of flamboyance, dressed to be the laughing stock of the whole world."

Over on the side, Kagedansu grinned, like he knew something she didn't.

"So I ask thee again, Minato: art thou content?"

Minato looked away from her, feeling the grip her fingers had on his shirt. She heard nothing from him, naught but a few murmured burblings.

"Hast thou ever _attempted_ to strengthen thyself?"

At this Minato nodded. "A few times back in high school. It-"

"Then why'd you stop?" asked Musubi, her hands now clasped in front of her.

"It never worked," he finished.

"What are you talking about?" she said, before gripping him by the shoulders and spinning him around, tearing Tsukiumi's hands free of his collar.

And then his lungs were emptied of air as Musubi punched him the back of the ribs. "Here-"

" _MUSUBI!_ " screeched Number Nine.

"And _here_ -" Her fist collided again, this time with his shoulderblade.

" _CEASE THIS INSTANT!_ "

"And here, too." Now Minato just _knew_ he's have a bruise on his arm.

Musubi turned to Tsukiumi, who was red with roiling rage. "Okay I'm done now." Then, back to Minato. "I can feel it, Minato. You _are_ getting stronger! Tsukiumi's right: you want it, you know you're going to get it, and I think you already know it's working!"

The brunette's fist punched the air above her. "Oh yeah!"

Tsukiumi nodded, cooling down, and little surprised at Musubi's quickness on the uptake. "If thou truly hadst no hope for thyself," she said to her husband, "then thou wouldst not continue. Thou art also a rational man, and if Kagedansu were a _complete_ failure of a teacher, thou wouldst surely abandon him."

The other blonde figure nodded towards the first. "What they said. 'Cept for the 'failure' part, yeah, no."

Tsukiumi then turned to glare at him. "Do not think I've forgotten thee. If my husband even _dreams_ of leopard spots, thou shalt hang by thy own cape."

"Okay, but not for too long. Macho Madness doesn't stay, if ya let it slip away. RIGHT, KID?!"

Minato just stared at him; safe the Ashikabi might be from the wrath of his "wife", but he wasn't so sure of Kagedansu. He almost seemed ready to snap (har har) if Minato didn't get with it.

"That's exactly it. Now," proclaimed The Shadow Sekirei, grabbing Minato by the wrist, "TO THE INTERWEB!"

"Where are we going?" Minato was confused. He received no answer as he was dragged inside and up to Kagedansu's room, which he only now realized was where Uzume had been staying. Looking around the inside, there was no sign of the giant plush toys he'd caught glimpses of while she'd been here. It almost made the room feel naked, more so because the only contents to fill the wooden space was a bedspread, a silver laptop, and a single large footlocker which Minato assumed contained the remainder of Kagedansu's belongings.

"You and me need to have a little talk," Sixty-Seven lectured him, "about this thing that's gonna hold you back _FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!_ " A finger prodded Minato's chest. "… if ya don't get it outta your system now."

"'The rest of my life'?" For some reason (and whatever could it be?), Minato found that a little hard to swallow.

"Yeaah, that's right," the Sekirei half-growled. " _I GET THE INESCAPABLE FEELING_ -" His voice dropped to a gravelly murmur. "-that the only thing keepin' you from rollin' with the Macho Madness is a severe lack of _self-confidence_ , yeah."

Kagedansu's hand came to rest atop his hat.

"And there is no one-"

Off his head came the hat, revealing a coffee creamer beneath.

" _That does it better_ -"

Kagedansu then spread his arms like he was preparing for take-off.

" _THAN THE MA-CHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE!_ "

Minato just kept looking at him for a moment, then the creamer fell off Kagedansu's head and made the Sekirei tense up a little. Minato's head began to tip forward and he had a feeling that the way he finally snapped wasn't the way Kagedansu talked about. Unless, of course, "snap into it" meant burying one's face in one's hands in a futile attempt to stifle the hysteria.

"Oh." The sun-goggles came off, courtesy of Kagedansu's left hand. His voice returned to normal. "Oooh, you think this is all _me_ , don't you?"

The backdraft left in the wake of Kagedansu blurring over to the window was enough to ruffle Minato's hair. When Kagedansu sped back, he'd acquired the silver laptop. Opening it up, he exited out of an internet tab about Higa Izumi (of all people) in order to pull up a search engine. Minato wiped the tears out of his eyes and sat back to see what it was his mentor wanted to show him.

"Get ready," Kagedansu told him, typing away. "Some things you can never un-see, no matter how much you don't want to."

Minato eyed him, that nagging worry starting to resurface. "'No matter how much I _don't_ want to'?"

"You heard me."

Seventy-two seconds later, Minato was watching a similarly loud, muscular, sungoggle-donned face yell and whisper about outside interference. And it was about the third time that something else happened, something rather peculiar, that Minato just _had_ to ask.

"Where's he getting all those creamers from?"

"He's the cream of the crop," Kagedansu replied. " _That's_ where."

Looking at this man, this beefcake on the screen who could probably give Beat Takeshi's video game a run for its money in terms of pure, unfathomable insanity, Minato couldn't help but smile as the eponymous Macho Man made his exit.

"Care for another?" Sixty-Seven asked.

Minato huffed with mirth. "Sure, why not?"

"Because Tsukiumi might storm the gates if she thinks you're up here for too long."

Minato shook his head. "I have faith in her."

The Shadow Sekirei laid a hand on his shoulder. "And she does in you, man. A blind guy could see that."

Three hours later, long after the sun had set, during which Minato saw a human being pour candy on his head, wrestle a hamster, have his tights pulled by a balding meatball-animal-man, destroy countless sections of wall, pour candy on someone _else's_ head, and elbow-drop one beefcake after another, his eyelids finally began to grow heavy. So, Kagedansu closed the laptop and turned to face him.

"Now, what did each and every second of that have in common?" he asked.

Minato thought for a moment, both on the videos, and about what his teacher might want him to take from them. It probably would've been easier if not for the white noise gathering in his eyeballs.

"He's never afraid," the former _ronin_ observed. "Or hesitant, or… He just…" Minato shrugged. " _Did._ He threw himself at everything like he was the greatest ever _._ I should try to be like him when I fight, shouldn't I?"

" _And_ ," Kagedansu said, holding up a finger, "the Macho Man was pure, homegrown human. So if _he_ can do all that high-flying, cream-cropping elbow-dropping, then so can you."

He gripped Minato's arm at the bicep, and the gravel-voice returned. "Gotta haev _beef_."

He prodded Minato's pitiful left pectoral, right on top of his heart. "Gotta haev _spice._ Need a little excitemen _ **t**_?"

From out of nowhere it came it: a long, skinny crimson rod in a vacuum seal. "Snap into a Slim Jim."

Minato took it into his hand as Kagedansu produced his own.

"Now _shout it_ with me."

The two men inhaled, and all throughout the house, the Sekirei present heard it loud and clear.

" _OOOOOOO YEAAAAAAAH!"_

Followed by the lighter of the two voices hacking up a lung. And a tonsil. And as Minato's eyes started to water over again, he wouldn't be surprised if one of his _shoes_ …

Kazehana slid in through the open window of her shared room with Musubi, sake in hand as always, the moonlight outlining her goddess-like figure. Across the hall, her husband's eyes met her own as he massaged his neck, Kagedansu repeatedly slapping his back.

"Deep breaths, kid." He made a gesture like he was about to claw his own eyebrows off. "It has to come through the face, not the throat." He paused in his back-slappage. "Actually, don't worry about it; in this case, it _is_ the thought that counts."

"Thanks," Minato croaked, looking back as he wheezed and hacked himself hoarse. By the time they looked back, Kazehana had already gone.

The laptop opened again; Kagedansu had one more thing to teach him for the day, to get him in the proper mindset for training. By the time Minato had finished learning the words to a song he'd be singing to himself while training, a different flavor of spice reached his nose.

He followed it downstairs, his brain cataloging it as tea the closer he got. But the one who he found by the pot was not the Landlady.

"Just in time, Mina-kun!" Kazehana sang, putting the top on the ceramic teapot. She poured a cup and offered it to him. "Here, drink up."

"What? Oh." He got over his surprise and took it in hand. "Thanks, Kazehana." Taking it to the living room table and putting it up to his lips-

"Wait!" The Wind Sekirei was there, to gently lay a hand on her Ashikabi's (lest she spill any boiling water on his tender skin). Leaning down, so close their foreheads were nearly touching, she pursed her lips and tentatively blew on the cup, dispersing the steam and sending more aroma into Minato's nostrils. "There we go. Hope you like it."

Nodding and leaning back a little, his eyes darting to Kazehana's cleavage, Minato forgot to look up again while he tilted the cup and allowed the steamy brew to wash into his mouth.

"This…"

He took another sip, just to be sure. And he was.

"This is great!" he declared, turning towards her. "When did you learn how to make tea?"

"Miya showed me," The Wind Sekirei said, her breasts still looming. "I actually got the recipe from Tsukiumi, if you can believe it."

Minato nodded. "Yeah, it does seem like something Tsukiumi would know about."

"More than I can say." Kazehana chuckled, causing her milk-puppies to jiggle. "I didn't think she'd have the patience for it."

"Well, remind me to thank _her_ , too," said the Ashikabi, draining his cup and letting out a contented sigh. He then turned to Kagedansu. "Through the face, Kagedansu?"

"Yeah, best I can describe it," the Sekirei replied, once again relaxing his voice. His eyes then shifted slightly to Minato's right; his lips tensed into a half-smirk. "Speaking of faces-"

Minato's was then buried in Kazehana's cleavage; that exhalation of his had given her velvety skin goosebumps around her arms.

"I thought you understood, Mina-kun," she breathed seductively. "Why look when you can touch?"

 _Whack!_

"Care for another reason, Kazehana?" Miya's silhouette rose from behind the wind-user.

Minato found himself pushed out of the two bags of heaven as Kazehana sat back across the table.

"I'll pass," Kazehana stated curtly. The rest of the tenants were fileing in behind their landlady, with Kusano bringing up the rear. The Shadow Sekirei took one look and then moved away from the table, lounging on the couch and flicking on the TV. He surfed the channels until he found one about that big fireball in the harbor.

" _While no one was harmed in the explosion, workers and seamen were baffled as to what exactly caused it,"_ the news anchor's voice spoke over the footage of the smoky shipyard. _"According to one officer, safety is top priority aboard this vessel."_

"Like I said," Kagedansu rumbled, his grin widening as he watched from behind the living room table, "providence."

" _We run a very tight ship, no pun intended,"_ said the captain, his name appearing in a red bar below. " _Perhaps that's why no one was hurt. If nothing else, it spiced up an otherwise boring day."_

"Oo ye-ah," the large Sekirei rasped, before taking another bite from his jerky snack.

"Pay attention to me, Kagedansu," Miya said, Kazehana and Matsu being the only ones to notice the smile that came with what she said next. "This concerns you, as well."

Sixty-Seven merely shrugged and clicked the TV off again.

"Now," she said to the gathered tenants, "I believe I've made the sleeping arrangements clear _many times_ during the course of your stay at my Inn. I believe I've also made clear my rule against illicit relations within the grounds."

It took everything a certain blonde Sekirei had to not look at her husband; Minato faced a similar struggle.

"Yet time and time again, I find these rules violated. I continue to find you all sleeping in one room come the morning-"

A terrifying demon loomed behind the landlady, and it wasn't the shadow of Hametsu.

" _-to the point that it has apparently become a hazing ritual._ "

As suddenly as it arrived, the demon left, and the terrified audience mustered the courage to sortie forth from under the table. Minato was the last, Musubi propping him up and Kazehana stealing his arm to let him lean against her. Musubi huffed a little, having already forgotten the terror.

"Now," Miya continued, "I aim to run a fair and impartial inn, never turning anyone away, to be just as hospitable as my husband was. However, as Kusano mentioned earlier today, if my authority as the _owner_ is not enough to ensure that my rules are followed, then I'm afraid there's only one option left."

Minato's brain may have been in the process of shutting down, but he was still cognizant enough to know what was coming. The Landlady looking straight at him only affirmed his guess.

"Eviction."

... Or not.

" _What?!_ " Matsu was on her feet. "Miya, that's ridiculous! You'd really throw me out over _this_?!"

" _Sit down, Matsu_." In the midst of the black aura that surrounded her, dark figures moved and twisted in some kind of hellish dance. They worshiped the ultimate power in the room, and it was a power that compelled the Wisdom Sekirei to slowly, but inexorably, lower herself back to her seat. Closer to the irritable Landlady, Tsukiumi was glaring across the table at Ku with quite possibly the most venomous stare she'd ever leveled in her life. The little girl whimpered and clutched at the nearby sleeve of Musubi's white gi.

" _What's ridiculous_ ," the landlady's voice carrying like thunder, " _was that you have the_ nerve _to protest after knowingly, deliberately, and_ constantly _violating my cardinal rule."_

Her shadow loomed long as she rose to her feet. " _I cannot trust any of you to respect my home and all that it means to me; if I were not here to punish you, there is nothing to suggest that you would refrain from an…_ orgy _right under this very roof_."

Everyone's brain had forgotten Miya's sword at her hip, right up until it was drawn.

" _ **Tell me I'm mistaken**_ **.** " The room seemed to shake like a rearing volcano. " _ **Better still, call me a liar**_ **.** "

There was nowhere to run. The tenants were all welded to their seat-cushions, the invisible magma rising from the ground melting and fusing them to the spot. One wrong move and they were all goners; any misplaced word might spark an eruption; a single _breath_ could violently disturb this razor's edge upon which sat Miya's patience.

From under the table, Minato felt a particularly large toe nudge him in the leg. He couldn't move his head to verify who it was: the intangible rock-blood that boiled forth had gotten into his neck. He felt the nudge again, and the ironclad shackles he wore began to slacken. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kagedansu's head twitching, jerking slightly and sporadically on to its side before returning to its default and locked position. Except… Given who sat at the seat that was being indicated...

"… Can… I talk?"

Those _eyes…_ Minato quaked as if Mt. Aso sat beneath him, ready to blow. _Be strong, bladder._

The former ronin swallowed the lump in his throat. At least, he _tried,_ but even before it reached his stomach the phantom knot had birthed a twin.

"Yes," Miya stated. "You may."

Minato attempted to bow, but the pitiful head-slouch came off as a nod at best. To his mind, the glimmer of the katana blade more resembled the edge on a headsman's axe.

"Right. Thank you, Landlady-sama." He didn't stammer; how long would _that_ last? "I just wanted to ask…"

His face scrunched up, just a little bit, his lips tightened and the muscles around his eyes preemptively cringing.

"What exactly constitutes 'illicit relations'?"

The tip of the katana dipped, ever so slightly, as the eyes behind it began staring down at their subordinate.

"My apologies," said the eyes' mistress. "I believe I misheard. Did you ask me, after every instance of my discovering you sleeping with your Sekirei, to define 'illicit relations for you?"

Minato managed to move his eyes enough to scan the table; swiveling his head was out of the question. All he got were terror-struck stares, like he'd crossed some line in the sand to die on a hill.

"... Yes?"

The aura around Miya flared to pitch black, then even darker, as the unfortunate Ashikabi thought he felt a piece of his soul flee his body.

" _ **Come with me, Sahashi-kun.**_ "

And now it was time for Mt. Aso to erupt, as it sent Minato rocketing to his feet so fast he could probably overshoot an ejecting fighter pilot.

The robed hanyo turned and led Minato down the hall, past the kitchen and to a door that the shivering boy had never used before. It was the exact same type of sliding door as the rest in the inn, but made of solid wood rather than paper walls. The chape of a hip-holstered scabbard slid into an unorthodox keyhole and turned, thus allowing the door freedom to slide open.

Within was a semi-traditional room: a king-sized bed rather than a bedroll, clearly made to accommodate two people, a small dresser next to an open closet where hung row of eerily similar white kimonos, and in the far corner, what appeared to be a altar, upon which sat a picture of a man, his skin and complexion far too youthful to justify his grey hair. Then again, Minato's mother was the same way, so who was he to judge?

"Close the door," Miya said.

He then also noticed, turning to obey, that the walls, decorated with masterfully painted designs of dragons, demons, gods and monsters, had the canvas for those wonders of artistry made out of soundproof foam.

"Lock it, please."

Minato did so, a simple bolt mechanism for the inside.

"Now, sit."

Minato turned back. Perhaps it was the tranquility he felt, surrounded by all these murals, but his previous gut-wrenching terror was gone.

"If it's all the same to you, Miya-sama, I think I'll stand."

Miya gave a small nod, clasping her sheathed sword "Very well. Now, I believe we were discussing the terms of your eviction…"

Minato stifled an outcry; that wouldn't help matters. "Actually, I'd just asked you what you always mean when you say, 'illicit relations'."

Miya chuckled. "Ah yes, now I remember!"

This made Minato's head tilt slightly. _That was less than a minute ago..._

"Illicit relations comes to mean anything sexual or provocatively so," Miya clarified. "This includes your Sekirei sleeping with you."

"Then why-" Aaah, he understood now: Ku got a pass because she was too young for that sort of thing. But that still left a rather perplexing element. "Why did you hit Kagedansu? He wasn't even under the covers."

"What kind of partner Kagedansu prefers is none of my business." Miya chuckled again. "After all, look who he has for an Ashikabi!"

Now _that_ was an alarming thought. Suddenly, Minato began to see his training in a whole new light: the sweat, the heavy panting, the prodding, the touching, and that _song_ he was just taught _…_

 _Body. Wanna feeeel my-bo-dy?_

 _Body. Such a thriiill, my-_

"But it _is_ your business!" Minato blurted out, trying to steer his thoughts _away_ from that course. "I- I mean it's your business if you need to punish him for it! But he obviously isn't like that, from how he and Uzume acted around each other yesterday, so… So…"

The hayna's aura rose from behind Miya; the mask staring at Minato like a tiger staring at meat.

"So _what_ , Minato?"

Minato felt himself shrink a little; in this room, no one would hear him scream.

"So... " He pursed his lips, steeled himself, and spoke. "You're not being fair."

Miya's eyes narrowed, and although Minato wanted nothing more than to shimmy back out the door, his will and that deadbolt he'd turned compelled him to stand.

"Am I?" Miya said. "I believe I've made it clear how much I dislike my tenants sleeping around."

"But that's not automatically, um, 'illicit'," Minato responded, scratching his head. "I mean, if you want me to tell Kazehana and the others not to sneak in, I will, but like I said this morning, that probably won't-"

Then Minato stopped as lightning struck his brain.

"Or," Minato began, "and please don't be upset if you don't like it…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, those same tenants had arranged a meeting of their own outside Miya's door.

"Why, of all times, doth mine ears fail me now?" Tsukiumi protested, her head one of several pressed against the door.

"I know how you feel," Kazehana replied, an ear no more than half a meter below Tsukiumi's. "This is worse than waiting for the next round of adjustments."

"Speak not of the tuning process!" pleaded Number Nine, which beames all sorts of questions into Kazehana's brain.

"Well, Miya's husband _was_ an MBI scientist," Matsu whispered. "He could probably afford to install soundproofing."

"Then why are we whispering all of a sudden?" Musubi inquired.

"Because if I'm wrong… You know, for a change-" This prompted a huff from Tsukiumi. "-then we might be able to hear them."

"But wouldn't that mean they could hear _us_?"

"Not if we whisper."

"Oh yeah!" Musubi realized hushedly.

"Do not thou start with that!" Tsukiumi snapped. "One cocktail of dementia is quite enough!"

It was fortunate the blonde was so high-strung, because when the deadbolt on the other side began to rattle, she was the first to leap off the door. Musubi was next, then Kazehana, with Ku and Matsu tying for last. They hid around the corner and watched as a lone figure exited through the doorway.

The thing that emerged shambling out of the bedroom looked like it belonged to an old zombie film. Gaunt-looking, hunched-over and shuffling along, the Ashikabi to the five would-be eavesdroppers could pass as a humanoid mound of white algae for the coloration he was putting on.

"Remember, Minato," Miya sang from inside the room, "I'll be holding _you_ responsible!"

Minato made a sound less like a "yes" and more like the fearful, breathy moan of a ghost.

"Oh, Minato!" The Wind Sekirei was on him as soon as the door was closed, smothering him with her breasts to try and bring some red back to his cheeks. "I'll bring you back to your old self."

"False!" Tsukiumi grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him away. "As his real wife, the duty of resuscitation falleth to me!"

"I'm his wife, too, you know!" Musubi had his other arm.

"I wanna help!" Ku squeaked.

Matsu remained on the side, chortling. "Oh man, it's like a soap opera. Even better when they wonder what she did to him in there..!"

"Who did what to him?" Matsu looked over her shoulder to find a familiar sexually fluid Sekirei.

"Miya brought him into her room…" Matsu's snickering almost disabled her voice. "For a ' _private talk'_!"

Homura turned his eyes to his Ashikabi, covered with females as he shuffled through the hall towards the stairs.

" _Beeeeeed…_ " Minato wheezed as he passed the Fire Sekirei. " _New rules…"_

"New rules?" Kazehana and the rest unlatched themselves from Minato. "What new rules?"

" _Fully-clothed… No nudity…"_ The Ashikabi slurred his words like his throat was jettisoning swamp water. " _Ku has to share the cot every night…_ "

The Green Girl's eyes lit like a flare. "Really?!"

" _Such injustice!"_ Tsukiumi's eyes had become white opals in the veil of black that covered the top half of her face. "That my place as his real wife would go to…"

She glared at Ku and the two blondes locked eyes. Sparks flashed between them before Ku finished Tsukiumi off with a well-earned raspberry.

"Geez, Miya really knows how to stick it to us," Kazehana sighed, stretching, enjoying the last night of freedom her custom purple singlet would allow her. "Hey, Tsukiumi, got anything I can borrow?"

The Water Sekirei was diverted from angrily watching Ku ascend the stairs in front of Minato, and looked Kazehana over. "Dost thou mean to tell me thou hast not _one_ piece of nightgarb?"

Kazehana shrugged, a playful smile curling her ruby lips. "Never needed any."

"Hmph, very well," Tsukiumi consented, taking the first step on the stairs with Kazehana close behind. "I make no promises towards a fit. Thy measurements art not mine own."

"Aaww, jealous much?" Kazehana pushed her melons together with her hands.

At the top, Tsukiumi turned, placed her hands on her hips, and gave Kazehana a full view of her glorious cleavage by leaning forward.

"Art thou?"

"Ha! You wish."

"Hey, there's an idea," Matsu chortled, joining them at the top. "A 'best breasts' competition. The winner gets a date with Minato."

"You sure about that Matsu?" Kazehana chuckled, pushing her melons together. "I know mine are the best, but Minato's had his hands on them already. I wouldn't want to win _that_ easily."

"Yeah?" Matsu's left bosom pushed against Kazehana's right. "Well bring it on, sister. By the time we're done, Mina-tan won't give you a _first_ glance."

"Oh no. Anything but that," Kazehana smirked sarcastically. By now the two single-numbers were engaged in a stare-down, _both_ sides of their chests statically wrestling for dominance.

"My my, now _what_ are you two up to?"

The pair disengaged at the sound of Miya's voice, remembering that they had new rules to adhere to. True to Tsukiumi's prediction, her spare nightgown was a little snug on The Wind Sekirei, particularly around the chest area (much to Tsukiumi's chagrin and what Kazehana imagined would be Mina-kun's delight). Matsu settled for borrowing a set of Kagedansu's pajamas, citing issues similar to Kazehana.

Which prompted a "Pfff, sure," from Kagedansu.

"Yeah?" Matsu taunted, pushed her one-undone-hook-away-from-bare bosom up with her arms. "Wanna test that theory?"

Kagedansu reacted by climbing up off the floor, pulling the buds out of his ears, leaning out his doorway, looking around, realizing no one would see it, and going back to Matsu.

"Pass."

Not a reaction she expected from him, given some of the things he did to Uzume.

She sighed as she left him to once again lie on the floor, the Shadow Sekirei reaching up to dim the light.

She saw Minato as he was about to enter his own room, and let out another sigh. Really, she should've expected this. Miya's patience only extended so far and even if Takehito were still alive, his hospitality didn't apply to rule-breaking. Then again, if Takehito were alive, then Miya might not have that stick up her butt about who bunked with who.

The sound of a… Guitar? It might've… Yeah. Yeah that was an electric, but a lot cleaner and overt than the static-flavored melodies she'd heard from Kagedansu's Ashikabi. This melody, though… There was something haunting about it. It made her think of some kind of far-off land of deserts and temples, like ancient Jerusalem. It almost made her forget the fact that sleeping with her Ashikabi would get her thrown out.

She pushed her rotary door open, and was about to slip inside when she heard that same Ashikabi call to her.

"Uh, Matsu?"

Only Minato would negotiate a deal with Miya and still open with an "Uh" when he wanted to speak to his Sekirei.

"Yes, Minato?" huffed the Wisdom Sekirei, really not in the best mood right now.

"Where are you going?"

Now being _that_ clueless wasn't like him at all.

"To bed," she told him. "You know, sleep? That thing we do when we feel tired unless we feel like staying up until dawn looking for boogeymen via spy satellite?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you guys?" Minato replied. "You guys can sleep in my room, as long- Huhk!"

From all over the top floor came the sound of sliding doors slamming open, and Minato for a brief moment thought he was going to die as four fully-grown women tackled him onto his bedspread.

The following sea of writhing, nubile flesh that pushed and pressed against itself while Matsu, Musubi, Kazehana and Tsukiumi all wrestled for a good part of him was like a blanket of sexually-charged velvet against what bare spots of flesh Minato's modest nightwear allowed, sending the lucky Ashikabi into what might've been the most tranquil slumber he'd managed to snatch in months.


	58. Out for the Scramble

**Chapter 58: Out for the Scramble**

"One night, Minato…"

At first, he thought he was having a nightmare.

" _You couldn't abide by our agreement…"_

He _wished_ it were a nightmare.

" _For_ _ **one night.**_ "

But there was no mistaking that shape: the creature at the door was holding a large carving knife, and that was definitely sunlight shining behind it.

The pleasant grogginess that came from blacking out beneath beneath four ultra-feminine women was shot down in flames, as if it were the last flight of The Red Baron. He frantically looked around, searching desperately for the source of Miya's morning ire, before it was too late!

Did Kazehana go _au naturel_? Was he unknowingly copping a feel? He didn't smell anything out of the ordinary, Kagedansu wasn't here, Uzume was still MIA-

 _Where's Ku?_

Minato hastily thought back: his last act before drifting away, aside from reaching up to give someone a gentle squeeze (he wasn't sure who), was to wonder where Ku was. Knowing her distaste for "fighting", he'd naively assumed she was waiting for the wrestling match on top of him to end.

And now, as punishment for his naiveté, it looked like a very important part of him was about to get the choppy-chop. And not in the karate way.

"K-Ku?!"

His call for help went unanswered. The thing on the doorstep passed through the portal and entered his room, soft footsteps heralding his approaching castration.

"Urgh, what's the rush Mina-k-" Kazehana rubbed her eye and made a note never to pass out drunk at Maison Izumo again. God forbid what could happen when hungover words met Miya's morning manner.

"Good morning, Miya-sama!" Musubi chirped, the third one awake. It was only after she looked around that she realized yes, they were in _deep_ trouble.

" _I'll find her!_ " the two Sekirei proclaimed at once. True to her word, Miya cared not for the accessories as she did the mastermind behind the crime, allowing Musubi and Kazehana past her. How either of them could get that close to Miya when the knife was _that big,_ Minato lacked the cognition to consider.

"Ku?" The sound of doors frantically sliding open echoed from the hallway. "Where are you, Ku-chan?"

"Ku-uu!" Musubi whizzed by the door, ruffling the Landlady's kimono even as she finished her slow, inexorable advance towards her seemingly infidelis tenant. Minato's legs reflexively snapped shut, as if that razor-sharp blade couldn't cut through his two spindly limbs.

He saw Musubi's visage in the hall behind the Landlady's, blurry as it was from how his saucer-sized eyes were focused on the approaching demon. The fist-type in the hall was now flinging open the upstairs doors, one after the other, going further down the hall in a desperate bid to save her beloved Minato.

But it was too late. The creature before him flipped the knife around in its fingers, demonstrating its deadly dexterity as the handle passed from one pair of fingers into the next, as if those fingers were rolling a coin across them. He could almost _hear_ the whirling blade, like a lawnmower, encroaching and approaching, lower, and lower, with one clean swipe being all it needed to slice off his-

"Ku, what are you doing in Kagedansu's room?" came Musubi's voice, a question silently echoed by Miya _and_ Minato as one halted while the other removed his hands from his crotch.

The Ashikabi crawled to his feet and followed the Landlady down the hall towards Matsu's room, where Musubi appeared to be staring at the floor. Upon arrival, no, it wasn't the floor, but the passed-out forms of Kusano and Kagedansu. The Shadow Sekirei had fallen asleep on the hard wood, his left deltoid acting as a makeshift pillow. The Green Girl, meanwhile, had managed to seat herself on the bedspread, but had commandeered Kagedansu's outstretched forearm for her cranial comfort.

A wireless headset lay nearby, and nearby that, Kagedansu's laptop. The lights were still on both and Minato could hear a faint sound coming from the headset's noise-cancelling speakers. Curiosity got the better of him while Musubi began prodding the slumbering meat-slab, and putting one speaker to his ear, he was greeted by a rather… For lack of a better term, "mystical" rock song.

 _He waaas a magic man._

 _Noth-ing could stand in his way._

 _Be warned… Disbelie-vers,_

 _Of the powers of yes-ter-day..._

Certainly not the stuff Minato listened to, when he bothered to plug in. Then again, this came from the same Sekirei who could impersonate Randy Savage and then sing a whole octave above him, sometimes more.

"What the devil art thou listening to?" The headset was pried from Minato's hands as his self-proclaimed wife sought to save him from the evils of rock 'n' roll. Putting it to her own ear, it only took five seconds for her to reject it.

"So this is what Kagedansu filleth the minds of children with," she scoffed, dropping the headset and walking away. By now, Musubi had poked Kagedansu into opening one eye.

"Hurrrrrrr… Go-'way," he croaked.

"Uh, Kagedansu?" Minato asked. "It's morning."

The next sound he made didn't involve opening his mouth, so Minato tried a different tactic.

"What time did you guys go to bed?" he inquired, looking over at Kusano's tuckered out form.

"Iden no… Sunruz…"

" _Sunrise?!"_

"Aww, poor little Ku." Kazehana was in the room now. She bent over and scooped up Ku in her arms, surprisingly _not_ in a facing that would've shown Minato her luscious posterior. Then again, she was still wearing Tsukiumi's ankle-length nightgown, so it might've been futile regardless. "Let's get you to bed for real."

She turned and left, Ku starting to stir awake, her head lolled out like she were an unconscious Basset hound, with the scent of a comfy bedroll on the wind. Minato and Musubi still grilling Kagedansu on just _**what**_ had kept them up so late.

Well, they were trying, but Kagedansu was eying the little girl.

"'Ey, Koo…"

The Green Girl opened her bloodshot eyes and rolled over in Kazehana's arms, her response muffled by her big sister's booby. This prompted Kazehana to halt her exit.

"'Ow d' we say it?" inquired the Shadow Sekirei, still being prodded.

The little girl closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. Her right arm, which dangled down over Kazehana's left, weakly raised its hand and curled the middle and ring fingers in to the palm.

Kusano blurbed something else into Kazehana's all-encompassing melon, to which Kagedansu mirrored the hand gestured and replied, "Yeah. _Rah the wurrrrl…_ "

And with that, the two Sekirei rolled away from each other and passed out again.

"Well, someone had a wild night," Kazehana chuckled. "Coming, Mina-kun?"

Minato sat up, thought for a moment, and then realized it, too. "Oh yeah. Sure."

"And where do you think you're going?" Miya asked, a hannya mask blocking the way out.

"I, um… I-I was just thinking, since Ku sleeping with me was part of the arrangement, and that she didn't, that I need to make it up… Now?"

The hannya hovered behind the Landlady, like Cerberus guarding the way out of Erebus. Bad sign: it wasn't going away.

Then, a few seconds later, it did.

"Very well," Miya conceded. "But I expect you to be more stringent when adhering to our agreement."

Thus, Kazehana and Minato were allowed to pass. The Landlady stopped him on the way out, and added, "If you can't stand up to them, Minato, then I'll be very disappointed indeed."

Minato had to hold his breath, else a very discourteous sound might've escaped. _I think you went a little beyond 'disappointed', Landlady._

He went back into the darkness of his room and slid the door shut behind him. Kazehana was already laying on his bedspread, her enormous melons looking even larger from being smushed against the floor. She patted the space next to her, Ku on her opposite side, a seductive smile on her lips.

Minato chose to instead lay with Ku between them. The little girl instinctively rolled up and hugged her big brother's pelvis, tiny fingers crumpling into his nightshirt. Kazehana looked at her, then at Minato's eyes, which seemed to be beckoning _her_ to likewise snuggle up next to him. Unwilling to resist, she put the top on the sideways Kusano sandwich with her flat stomach, laying down next to their Ashikabi and making another sandwich out of his arm and her breasts.

 _Miya, you cunning bitch…_

Still, now she could lay with her husband without worrying about a smacked head when she woke. Not the worst trade-off, but she still wanted more.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I cannot believe this!" Tsukiumi protested, unwrapping her towel and stepping into the bathtub. "After all Minato hath endured, after all the nights spent sharing his berth, Kusano chose that great lummox to lay with!"

"I thought you'd be happy, Tsukiumi," Matsu commented, her fingers entwining her hair into a knot. "Less competition, more room in the bed."

"Kusano is a child," Tsukiumi shot back, sinking into the steaming water, "and unworthy of being called _my_ competition. If her presence is needed to assuage our Landlady's wrath, then I would tolerate it."

She clenched her fist, sending a few hot droplets onto Musubi's face nearby. "But for her to side with that _lollard…_ Tis most unsettling."

"What's _that_ mean?"

"Thou shouldst look in the mirror, Musubi," Tsukiumi said. "A lollard is one who is ill-kempt, ill-mannered, or otherwise poorly educated."

"Geez, lighten up," Matsu interjected, glaring at the blonde while she lathered her arms. "You've been really on edge since yesterday, even for you."

"Ha!" The Water Sekirei scoffed, sudding up her lustrous hair. "Thou knowest me not, then."

Matsu ceased her lathering and her eyelids drooped. If one were to look into them, one might see the visage of a rapier being drawn.

"'Lollard' was also the name of a Christian sect back in Medieval Europe," stated the brain-type. "They were persecuted by the Catholic Church as heretics, mainly because they rejected a lot of practices the Church had at the time."

Tsukiumi eyed her fellow Sekirei, sensing not where this stream of thought led, only that it would end with some barb at her expense.

"Namely," Matsu continued, "the accumulation of money, and by extension selling indulgences, saint worship, and _their priests governing people._ "

A small vein bulged on Tsukiumi's forehead as she glared at Matsu. The Wisdom Sekirei allowed herself a long-overdue smirk.

"Am I getting warm, Tsukiumi? Or is that just the bath water?"

"Am I to believe thou art comparing me to an oppressive theocratic regime?" Tsukiumi shot back. "That I am one who extorts Minato, and his good will, for mine own selfish benefit?" She folded her arms across her chest. "That I should court such accusations, _Two_."

"I dunno, _Nine_." Matsu drew back for the counterblow. "Maybe someone's feeling jealous of sharing Minato, and not in your usual husband-wife way."

" _Thou dost not know his powers of persuasion!_ "

Musubi by this point was clutching her head, half-sunk into the water. " _I don't know what anyone's talking about anymore…_ " she bubbled.

"I have seen first-hand the sway Kagedansu wields!" Tsukiumi elaborated. "I hath likewise seen that same power turned onto Minato, and now Kusano!" She bit her thumb. "My husband hath already given himself over to the Shadow's teachings, for he seeketh a path to egotism, but the line shall be drawn at the child. We must not forget that Kagedansu is a Sekirei, and his motives may differ from what mask he may wear."

"Wow, Tsukiumi!" Musubi perked up, beaming innocently. "I didn't know you were _that_ afraid of him!"

" _I am not!_ "

"Sure sounds that way," Matsu chuckled. "Wouldn't want someone else having Minato's ear, now would we?"

"Thou callest me petty?"

"Not entirely, no, but-"

" _Then I wash my hands of thee!_ "

Tsukiumi stood and stormed away, furiously pulling her hair out of its knot and allowing the locks to cascade down her back. The soap bubbles still clung to her, but a very cold shower of Sekirei power rinsed her off. Shivering, she practically leapt through the paper door and slammed it shut behind her, leaving her bathmates chortling in her wake.

"Still," Musubi mused, winding down, "I think I understand what she means."

Matsu whirled around, her orange hair almost coming free.

" _What?!_ "

Meanwhile in the changing room, Tsukiumi forewent actually _wearing_ her nightgown and simply balled it up beneath her arm, a black cloud hovering above her head and threatening to rain on the towel she wore. Her gaze was set to "glower" as she pushed the hallway door open and exited the antechamber. By chance, Minato met her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, Tsukiumi," he offered as she strode by him. "Something wrong?"

" _Why speakest to me?_ " she snapped. "Take thy concerns to thy teacher! I'll only offer a word, not an echo!"

The sound of her feet stomping up the stairs gave Kazehana fair warning to get out of the way. Tsukiumi didn't look like someone who needed a petty confrontation right now. Kazehana's gaze followed the bitter Sekirei to her room, all the way to the closing of the door.

"What's eating her?" she remarked before finishing her descent. "Speaking of which, any breakfast left, Musubi?"

"Yup! I made sure to save some."

Minato about-faced and found, as he expected, Musubi, who was _unexpectedly_ in nothing but a towel. While normally happy to see Musubi in anything that clung to her curves as only a piece of damp cloth could, this was Miya's inn, and she could smell "improper" from the next area code. Except for that one time.

"And I think Tsukiumi's just afraid," Musubi commented, "because she doesn't want Minato to change."

"Afraid? Wait, change what?" Honestly, Minato wasn't sure what baffled him more.

Kazehana smirked, placing a hand on her hip and looking back at the staircase. "Well, what else could it've been?."

"Guys, I'm serious," Minato protested. "Why? And, what?"

"Well, that _is_ what you're trying to do, right?" Musubi confirmed. "You're training with Kagedansu to become a fighter like me, and Kagedansu."

Her trademark fist shot into the air. "You wanna have more excitemen _t_!" Alas, her cute, bubbly voice didn't allow for that aggressively masculine " _ **t**_ " sound that Kagedansu and the Macho Man made. All her gesture did was make her towel slip.

"Well, yeah," Minato admitted, looking down at his still-scrawny appendages whilest slapping a hand over his bleeding nose. "I want to be better than this. I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world when you girls are around me…"

Something about being called that, his "girls"… Kazehana didn't quite know if she liked it, but she could definitely see it growing on her.

"…because I really don't deserve you."

As Musubi finished cinching up her towel, she gazed at Minato and saw Kazehana past him, each looking at the other, each with the exact same brows-half-raised, eyelids-opened, quarter-formed smile on their soft features. All of that weight training, all of that running around the Inn, all of those Slim Jims and flexing and punching and shouting, and what was it all amounting to?

In the case of Tsukiumi, a big pile of worrying over nothing.

"You're wrong, Minato."

The former ronin turned and looked at Kazehana, who was staring up at him with her garnet irises. For a moment, the hallway vanished, and he was back outside his apartment the night that Uzume… That _The Veiled Sekirei_ ambushed them. He remembered it: Kazehana had been stumbling at every turn, taking that gash across the arm, the way she looked up at him in what he now knew to be serious Sekirei heat… The only constant across time were her eyes.

The Wind Sekirei took his right hand into her own, her soft palms kneading the sinews in his appendage. "Did you forget already? It's not every day that someone comes to my rescue."

Another, similarly plush palm surrounded his left hand. "Me neither," Musubi added. "You could've left me for those two lightning girls and run away. But you didn't, Minato. Because you're a wonderful person and you can't watch people suffer knowing you could help them. Your heart's too big."

Those same hands that held him now guided _his_ hands up, on to two soft breasts of the girls… _Women_ that surrounded him.

"Can you feel it?" Musubi asked. "My heart's beating for _you_ , Minato. It always has been, even before we met. I always dreamed about finding my Ashikabi, ever since Yume told me about them, but to find out my Ashikabi is such a kind and gentle person? You were better than I ever could've hoped for, Minato."

"And more than that," Kazehana chimed in, pushing his hand a little further into her bosom, "even if we weren't Sekirei, I think we'd have still fallen in love with you, Mina-kun."

In her high heels, she was tall enough to place her mouth next to Minato's ear. "But if you keep this up, Mina-kun, and your training pays off…"

She paused as Musubi, still in a towel and now on her tip-toes, approached Minato's other ear.

"Then you won't be the Minato we fell in love with," said the brunette.

The Ashikabi's lip had started to tremble a little. "You guys…"

The two hands that gently caressed their bosoms fell away, as their Ashikabi's arms wrapped around their waists and embraced them to him. "I know that," he said. "But I hope you'll be able to love the man I become."

And as soon as the words left his still-open mouth, two pairs of lips attempted to press themselves against his own. They didn't achieve the kiss they wanted, but they were still close enough for Kazehana and Musubi to slide their tongues into Minato's mouth and stroke the tip of his own. The resulting pink light that emerged was so brilliant that the raven-haired former _ronin_ had to close his eyes. He felt himself being pushed backward, first on the right, then on the left, and with one foot behind the other he soon felt his back stop at the wooden wall.

When he opened his eyes, his Sekirei had pulled away just enough so that he could make out every detail in their warm, moon-shaped visages.

"We know we will," they both said simultaneously. The two then looked at each other, a little surprised, and then started giggling. This close, it made Minato want to crush them against him again, only this time with far less restraint. In fact…

 _Whap! Whap!_

"Owowowow…" Musubi rubbed her poor noggin as Miya retracted her rug-now-head beater.

"I must say, Musubi, you look awfully indecent right now," Miya warned cheeringly. "Bath towel parties are strictly prohibited at Maison Izumo."

She then set her sights on her other wounded tenant. "As for you, Sahashi-san-"

"It's okay, Miya-sama," he said, waving a hand in front of him. "I understand. Musubi was just… Um… Hey, what _were_ you doing out here, Musubi?"

"I was about to go get changed when I ran into you guys!"

"Oh." Minato looked to his Landlady, but her expression hadn't changed. "Well, good luck with that. Up for breakfast, Kazehana?"

"I could go for some," she said, waving him off. "Just gimme a minute."

As soon as he was in the next room, Kazehana raised an eyebrow to Miya.

"'Maison Izumo'?" Kazehana inquired.

Miya laid a hand on her cheek, smiling with nostalgia. "I felt my inn was due for a name change. While I loved Takehito dearly, he was never one for impressive titles. 'Izumo Inn' just doesn't have the same ring to it."

"Won't argue there," Kazehana said, laying her arms behind her head and strolling towards the dining room. "We're talking about the same guy who came up with the number system."

"Wasn't that Minaka?" Miya asked, still smiling, though the corners of her mouth had lowered slightly.

Kazehana turned and calmly looked her dead in the eye. "Takehito told me himself. He said it was because he and Minaka were bad with names."

At this, Miya brightened up and even chuckled a little. "Well, I won't disagree."

"Oh, that _BASTARD!_ "

Matsu came charging out of the bathroom antechamber, butt-naked, and ran face-first into Miya's rug beater.

"If you _must_ go traipsing through my inn, at the very least cover yourself."

Matsu quickly snatched a towel from the rack and looped it around herself. "No time to waste; where's Minato?!"

Kazehana opened the dining room door and gestured towards it. "After you," she smirked.

The Wisdom Sekirei nearly slipped on her own wet feet as she barreled through the opening, if not for Minato being in perfect position to catch her by the breasts. With his face.

"Not now, Minato!" Matsu cried as she pushed herself off of him. "Take a look!"

 _Now how did I miss_ that _little thing,_ wondered Kazehana. Matsu was holding a small tablet device, on which was displayed an email. Peering over her nude shoulder, The Wind Sekirei got a good read.

 _ **To all recipients,**_

 _ **You have been chosen for the second match of the Third Stage!**_ _**For those unfamiliar, the rules are simple: anyone may attack anyone else regardless of the numbers involved, and once the match is over the holders of the Jinki are not to be touched. Not unless you manage to eliminate their entire flock, of course.**_

 _ **This match will have a few additions to keep things interesting. Attached to this email is a map with several subway transit stations marked on it. These are the boarding locations, after which you will be taken into the zone where the Jinki will be located. You are to proceed along a path of your choice until you reach one of the Discipline Squad, who will present you with a Jinki. Then, all you have to do is make it above ground (without punching holes in the street, of course), and you're home free!**_

 _So it's a race,_ Minato thought. _Wait, the Discipline Squad are just going to_ hand _us a Jinki?_

The image of that pink-haired girl, standing over Musubi's limp, naked body flashed before Minato's eyes, exactly as he'd witnessed it on the bridge. Then, another: this one of the Battle of the Brewery, that same girl pursuing Tsukiumi like a baying hound while Kagedansu fought off her partner, a woman equally as hungry for blood (and a little tipsy).

 _Sure, Minaka_. If he'd said it out loud, Miya could've sliced his sarcasm and served it for dinner. _Whatever you say._

The email continued, to the sound of Matsu's anxious finger-fidgeting:

 _ **Now, space on the subway is limited, so only three tickets will be provided for each party. Simply approach the MBI employee standing before the turnstiles at each station and give your names, numbers, and the Ashikabi you represent. Each Ashikabi may only be entered oncel. The employees will be maintaining contact with MBI, and any attempt to illegally enter will be punished severely.**_

 _ **In other words, Number Four will be standing by.**_

Minato swallowed at that, the two women even more so.

 _ **As this is a subterranean match, any Sekirei you terminate must be brought to the surface to catalog the victory. Those who do so will be given seeding in the next match. So why not be courteous to each other? Ahaha. A-HAHAHAHAHA!**_

"It's like everything he does makes me regret him more," Kazehana sighed wearily. This prompted Minato to look at her over his shoulder.

"Regret breaking up?" he asked nervously.

"No, silly!" she beamingly laughed, leaning heavily on his back. "I mean regret seeing him!"

She then gave him a peck on the cheek. "Maybe you _do_ need an ego boost. Kagedansu's got his work cut out for him."

 _ **P.S. Boarding begins in 10 minutes. Fly forth, little-**_

" _Crap!_ " Minato was up on his feet. He scrolled back up to look at the timestamp.

"Ten minutes, huh?" Kazehana rested her chin on Minato's shoulder to get a closer look. He might've bought it, if she hadn't slid over and started nuzzling his cheek with her own. "I could be anywhere you please in about six, as long as we stay inside the city."

"You guys _have_ to get out there!" Matsu grabbed Minato by the collar and practically _threw_ him out into the hall. "And tell Musubi to hurry up!"

"W-Wait a second," Minato protested, leaning a hand on the side of the staircase. "If we're fighting underground-"

"Tsukiumi's in a huff, Ku's asleep, I can't fight, and Homura's off being angsty somewhere," Matsu shot back. " _Get a move on!_ "

From over the bannister came a fully clothed Musubi, landing lightly on her feet before shooting her fist in the air. "Okay! Let's do our best, you guys!"

"Hang on, what if there's no lights down there? And Musubi might get carried away and bring the ceiling do-OOOOOWN!"

Minato's objection had to wait, as the busty brunette had already latched onto his wrist and bolted out the door. Minato's limbs flailed about as Musubi dragged him along in her wake.

Between his panicked screaming and his brains draining down to his toes, he didn't have time to think about Kazehana, not even hope she was keeping up.

Back inside the inn, Matsu let out a weary sigh and was about to go finish her bath when a voice caught her attention.

"Temm mitts?" it mumbled drowsily, sticking a hand in its face to rub its bloodshot yellow eyes. "Mass jus' enough time muh-go get füüüüd."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything was a blur. The streets were sideways, shop signs grew out of the ground, and buildings hung from the sky like stalagmites. The Ashikabi feared he'd landed in some bizarre circle of Hell. Or maybe his eyeballs were still spinning like casino slots. Either way, when Minato straightened himself out, Musubi was still holding his hand, looking around a four-way intersection: first right, then left, then directly across the diagonal, completely oblivious to all the gawking stares she was attracting from the single males about her.

"Musubi?" Minato asked.

She turned to him, her head tilted slightly as she attempted to look at her own eyebrows. "I forgot: where are we going again?"

Minato sighed, which quickly turned into a huffing chuckle. "You didn't forget at all," he said, standing up and pulling out his phone. "You just rushed out before Matsu could give us directions."

"Oh…" That look of utter shame and disappointment… It didn't suit Musubi at all, and it made Minato a little queasy to see his cheeriest wagtail so distraught.

"Hey, it's alright!" he hurriedly assured her. "Don't worry about it! I should have the image riiiiiight…" After a few dozen finger-taps, "Here."

The map filled the entire screen of Minato's phone, forcing him to zoom in to get a good look. It wasn't too detailed: the streets were represented with thin grey lines, but only the biggest ones. Instead, the majority of the map was devoted to laying out the subway system, including pink lines which the map legend said were devoted to MBI's personal lines.

 _Well, now we know why they made a big deal out of "improving public transit"_ , Minato thought, recalling a few years ago when MBI made a "charitable" effort to bore out new subway tunnels. The citizens had been rather suspicious, since the tunnels were constructed but no rails or cables were ever brought down into the depths.

"Which also means it'll probably be pitch-black down there," he murmured, thinking aloud.

"Don't worry, we Sekirei can see fine in the dark," Musubi informed him. "Plus, I could make a light if we need one."

Minato stared at her in surprise. "You can do that?"

"I dunno."

His head drooped. "Alright then…"

"But I can try!" the fist-type cried enthusiastically. "So let's go!"

"WAA-AAAH!" Minato was once again pulled, wailing, through the air, tossed around in the wind like a flag on a mast.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato honestly couldn't believe how his soul hadn't fled screeching out of his mouth, even as they began their descent down the stairs into the transit system. Musubi had gotten distracted by the scent of a pastry shop _three blocks away_ and had hauled him all the way there. It was only after she'd wolfed four whole bear claws that she realized they'd taken a detour.

"Sir?"

Her solution? Why, continue _on_ said detour until they reached an entirely different subway entrance to the one they'd originally been going for.

And by some miracle of modern internal horology, they were only _eight_ minutes late.

"Sir."

He'd been ready to make a rather insincere suggestion that they push the envelope _even further_ by finding a MOS Burger and sitting down to have lunch. He caught himself before he could; Musubi might've actually gone for it, what with no Kazehana to rein her in.

"Sir, your name, please."

Minato got a soft elbow to the ribs, and it snapped out of his stupor. He remembered where he was: underground, in front of a row of turnstiles, his greater height letting him peer over Musubi's shoulder at the MBI suit with the electronic tablet-and-pen combo.

"Oh, um, Sahashi."

The man flicked his pen across the screen a few times; more times than Minato would've liked. How _long_ was this list, anyway? How many people had Minaka sent that email to?

"Keep it together, Mina-kun," cooed a sultry alto. "At least until we get home."

"Kazehana!" The Ashikabi's eyes went wide. "When'd you get here?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, laying her hands behind her head. "I've been here all along. _Youuu_ -" She snaked a finger through the air until it poked the tip of her husband's nose. "-just didn't notice me."

Minato ogled her form, from the violet ribbon that tied back her raven hair to her slender, curvaceous body, all the way down to her bafflingly functional high-heeled shoes. How had he missed _her_?

"I decided to take a more scenic route," Kazehana clarified, making Minato realize he'd once again put voice to his thoughts. "On the roofs."

"Sahashi Minato?" the MBI employed asked, _finally_. Minato buried his impatience and nodded. The man made one more swipe with his pen before pulling a small roll of tickets from his right pocket. He counted out three before breaking them off and handing them over.

"Go right," said the suit. "Combatants are to gather in the last car. The next train should be arriving shortly."

Taking his tickets, Minato led the way as he pushed through the turnstile and officially entered the second match. Kazehana and Musubi followed behind, already scanning the crowd for signs of Sekirei.


	59. The Darkness Starts to Creep

And so he says to me, "You got _legs,_ baby, you're everywhere! _YOU'RE ALL OVER THE PLACE!_ "

 _Yeah…_

* * *

 **Chapter 59: The Darkness Starts to Creep**

They were all thinking it, looking around at those that surrounded them. It was the eyes that gave it away. None among them could've missed it: that plethora of silent cues being broadcast about the noisy, cavernous interior.

Well… _Almost_ none of them.

"Why is everyone moving away?" Musubi asked. Indeed, as soon as they passed through the turnstile, the civilians who got a good look at them immediately began shuffling away. The looks Minato and his Sekirei received made him feel uncomfortable, like he was some notorious career criminal who'd been recently paroled. The crowd continued to thin until they were left with naught but a few down-and-outs sleeping under piles of old newspapers, the only souls too lazy to get up and move.

"Glad to see we've made the news recently," Kazehana remarked dryly.

"The news?" Musubi repeated, nearly as lost as the tourists that crowded around the map on the far wall.

Minato slipped a hand around her shoulder and gripped it snugly as they walked. "Think about it, Musubi: all this stuff that's been going on, all the Sekirei battles that've been happening, it's probably made a few headlines."

While the cogs in the brunette's head turned, the Ashikabi felt a feminine hand lift his arm and a soft breast, clad in purple fabric, press itself to his other side. The hand that held him gently placed _his_ hand on a hip, opposite the soft snow rabbit that was snuggling up to his right pectoral.

It wasn't related to Kazehana's maneuver, and one might expect the opposite due to her tendency to make red blood cells evacuate Minato's brain, but the Ashikabi was suddenly struck by inspiration.

"Hey, can I…" His hand left Musubi's shoulder, Kazehana refusing to release her claim on him, so that he could get to his phone.

Dialing quickly, before the subterranean conditions could cut him off, he put the phone to his ear.

" _Mina-tan?"_ Matsu's voice came through, with some minor garble. " _Ku ku ku, I know you're anxious, but is now_ really _the best time?"_

"Best time for what?" Minato asked.

" _Well, this_ is _a booty call, right?"_

"Wha- No!"

" _Aaaw, is Kazehana stealing you again?"_

The former _ronin_ was reminded of a Sekirei's keen hearing when Kazehana pushed her cheek against his, speaking into the receiver.

"You can't steal what's already yours, Matsu," she cooed, before giving Minato a smile and a quick lick along the earlobe.

"Not what I'm calling about!" he cried, tearing his face from Kazehana and bonking heads with Musubi. "Ow."

His second Sekirei said nothing; she was still hard at work answering his riddle.

"Sorry about that, Musubi. Anyway," Minato continued, rubbing his noggin, "you think you could find something out for me?"

" _Shoot_ ," Matsu replied, the cracking of knuckles audible even on Minato's end.

"I want you to see if anyone saw that black lightning bolt that Hametsu arrived in," the ex- _ronin_ told her. "And if they did, maybe see if they saw anything else."

" _Like a certain someone's face that Kagedansu didn't catch._ " Matsu was miles away and yet Minato could still hear the wheels in her head turning. " _A major meteorological event like that's bound to be noticed by_ someone. _I'll start with the local news, maybe the next morning's weather report. Someone who saw this would probably try to sell it to a tabloid, at least._ "

"You're the best, Matsu," Minato said. "I owe you."

" _You'll owe me a lot more when I pull this off_ ," Matsu replied dirtily. " _At le… Frencher, and… other lips._ "

"All right, it's a deal."

"… _ove you, Min…_ "

"Love you, too, Matsu." Alas, the signal cut out, and a dead line was all he got in response as Kazehana pulled him to a stop. Looking around, then at her, he realized they'd reached the end of the station.

"Say, Kazehana? You think Matsu could boost my phone?"

"If you give her enough time," Kazehana replied, slipping an arm around Minato's waist. She chuckled. "And enough of that sweet…

Her hand began to slide up his pant leg.

" _Sweet_ motivation…"

He caught it before she could do something publicly indecent; thanks to her syrupy voice, the battle in his pants was hard enough already.

"…she could probably build you a mecha suit."

"Seriously?!" Minato was flabbergasted. Even for a Sekirei, that seemed like a pretty tall order to fill.

"Of course she could do it," Musubi soothed warmly, taking Minato's free hand in her own. "Sekirei grow more powerful the deeper their bond is with their Ashikabi, and Matsu's a brain-type."

Musubi beamed up at him, a softer glow than usual thanks to her hazelnut eyes being open.

"The more you love us, the further we spread our wings. That's why we need you, Minato: to be able to fly to the higher heavens and fulfill our destiny."

Minato stared back at her, everything surrounding Musubi fading into his peripheral vision. _She's always so… Musubi…_

"Mina-kuuuuun…"

That low, lusty slur… And the heat from her breath on the back of his ear…

"Feel like deepening our bond before the match?" Kazehana whispered, coming in loud and clear amidst the ruckus of the station.

Minato swallowed. His brain felt caught in a tug-of-war: at his front, Musubi's innocent sweetness mixed with an almost platonic desire; at his back, Kazehana's sultry ingratiation mixed with a very _primal_ desire. He could practically feel his grey matter rocking around in his skull, trying to decide which way to go. It was giving him a headache, and Kazehana's feminine fingernail on the point of his chin, steering his head towards her and her _wonderful_ bosom against his back, was the only thing deciding the contest.

But Musubi, surprising her sister Sekirei, stood up on her tip-toes and captured Minato's mouth for her own. Her pink wings lit the station, drawing gasps, murmurings, and one or two sighs of "aawww" at the sight of young love.

Kazehana, with her keen eye, quickly scanned the station, but saw no looks of alarm or hostility, anything that would give someone away as an enemy Sekirei. Soooo…

Musubi separated and remarked, "That's a great idea, Kazehana!" before Number Three assaulted her husband's mouth with a far more wet and sloppy kiss than Eighty-Eight's gentle show. Minato's tongue barely had time to shift gears before it was slammed, wrestled and caressed by Kazehana's invading member. She grabbed his hand but Minato (much to her disappointment) was aware enough to _not_ grab her tit.

Ha! As if she'd let him get away _that_ easy! Even as the light from her wings wound down, The Wind Sekirei pushed her body against his and began grinding against him, repeating her gyrade from earlier as she lustily lady-handled him all the way back to the wall. Kazehana felt him crash down on something, probably a bench, giving her the perfect place to climb up and straddle his waist.

Minato, for his part, was glad he'd chosen to wear baggier track pants in place of his usual jeans, because he imagined that it wouldn't have been too… _Comfortable_ had Kazehana been forced to move against a metal zipper. Her public display was starting to get to him, because he started having a fantasy of a hole spontaneously appearing in his pants-

 _OhthankGod, it's here!_

While on the other end of the fiery make-out session,

 _It couldn't have run just a_ little _late, now could it?_

Kazehana knew her time was up, but made sure leave an audible _pop!_ when she pulled her lips away. Her eyes shifted to watch the front of the tram roar on by, little by little decreasing in speed, and then turned back on Minato.

"A little more before we go?" she playfully purred, but was denied her second helping by Musubi. The fist-type was raring to go, and so grabbed Minato by the wrist, pulled him out from under Kazehana, and sent her partner spilling over the hand-rest as she dashed to the yellow line. Minato managed to touch his feet to the ground a few times on the way, and so stopped himself from falling face-first on to the tracks, courtesy of physics' very own Kinetic Friction.

Instead, his face was greeted by the wake of the subway rumbling down the line. It was slow by now, but such a massive steel leviathan was bound to drag the air along with it. As if inviting him into the dragon's maw, the doors came to a stop right in front of Minato and Musubi, opening to an empty, eerily unblemished subway car.

"I don't buy it," Kazehana remarked, stepping in behind the duo. It seemed she had the same thought, because her eyes scanned the car, focusing particularly on the seats, looking for _something_ that had been vandalized or damaged. But, no, everything was as pristine as Minato's grandmother: aged, well-travelled, but almost perfectly preserved.

"Oh, hello!" Musubi chirped.

Minato and Kazehana turned to see that their initial misgiving had been, well, just that. There was indeed someone else in the car: _two_ someones, one male and one female, the carrying a large halberd.

A halberd that Musubi took no notice of, apparently, because the next words out of her mouth were, "Are you two here for the match?"

"Yeah," was all the boy said. And judging by his attire, that's exactly what he was. Because while plenty of people wore dark blue hoodies to hide their faces, kept their hands sequestered in the pockets of their jeans, and sat in the center of a five-seat section of a subway car, staring at the bottom half of their T-shirt like they'd somehow lost their keys in the stitches, few apart from someone's aging parent checked all of those boxes at once.

He couldn't have been older than Minato; there was too much color in his dull blonde hair and what parts of his face weren't shadowed by angst (and the lip of his hood) portrayed a disturbing lack of age lines. So, teenager it was, then.

Musubi bowed her head to the girl, a shapely little mynx with a head of neck-length brown hair; a form-fitting, shoulder-less, backless crimson top; a white slab of cloth standing in for a skirt; gloves and stockings that matched the hue of her top; and all white trim to lace all the red, not so dissimilar to Musubi's gi. The unnamed Sekirei even had a bow tying back a ponytail, though hers was white instead of pink.

"So, you'll be my opponent, then?" Musubi asked.

" _NO!_ " Minato almost dove between them, looking at the other Ashikabi. "Look, we just got here and honestly we have no idea how exactly this match is going to go, so let's just tolerate each other while we can, alright? Please?"

"Why?" The question was fielded from behind, and from a certain bubbly brunette.

Minato spun around as his voice dropped to a whisper. "Because we're on a subway car and there's no safe distance for me if you start fighting."

"There's no safe distance for _anyone_ who challenges me," hissed the halberd-girl ominously.

"You'll be fine!" Musubi beamed at her Ashikabi. "Kazehana's here and she wouldn't let anything happen to you. Neither of us would!"

"You should listen to your master," the hooded boy said. "You really don't wanna mess with us."

"Listen to who now?" Musubi looked around the car, before something occurred to her. "I don't have a master."

"Then what are you doing here?" the Sekirei sitting opposite her inquired.

"I'm here to fight," Musubi said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "For the love and wish of my Ashikabi."

"Then you _do_ have a master," said the boy.

"No." Musubi shook her head as Minato sighed and took a seat in the section towards the back. "There was Yume-sama, and Karasuba-sama, but they were my teachers."

"No, I mean your Ashikabi."

"What about him?"

"Listen to him."

Musubi beamed at the youth. "I always listen to him! A Sekirei's love means they should always be willing to hear what's in their Ashikabi's heart."

Beside the unnamed boy, the halberd-wielding Sekirei's lip twitched.

"Then listen to him when he says you shouldn't fight us." The boy lurched in his seat as the car hit a very, _very_ small gap in the rail as the subway began picking up speed again, his Sekirei shooting out a hand to steady him. Nearby, Kazehana did the same, having elected to stand over Minato while holding on to a hand bar. Musubi had no idea why she'd stand in a subway car, and in high-heels no less, but judging from her posture, it looked like Kazehana had a stain on her dress beneath her breasts and Minato was looking for it.

"I'm sorry," Musubi said with another bow, as she readdressed the boy, "but if we're here then we may have to fight eventually. If it means getting a Jinki, and Minato asks for it, then I'll fight you."

The red-clad Sekirei twitched again, this time with her whole mouth.

" _Then you'll lose_ ," said her Ashikabi, a harsher note entering his voice. "Namiji's already beaten two others and even survived a run-in with one of the Discipline Squad."

He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and glowering up at the oblivious Musubi. Next to him, his Sekirei was starting to fidget a little.

"She'd take you out easy as pie, especially in such a closed space. You think this metal car would get in the way? News flash: it wouldn't. She could cut this whole train in half with one slice, and that's not even mentioning her full power. She's the greatest, simple as that, and no one in this match or anywhere else has a snowball's chance of beating her."

The boy looked like he was about to say more, but was rudely interrupted when his Sekirei ceased her fidgeting, let go of her halberd, and exploded onto him, her arms and legs like ropes on a net trap.

"What the- Namiji!"

"I can't help it, you always say the greatest things about me, Takano!"

The boy, Takano, squirmed in his Sekirei's grip, but Namiji was having none of it, hugging and nuzzling and squeezing him until his grumpy expression broke the bounds of Kazehana's control and she started laughing.

"That's a load off my chest!" she exclaimed, rubbing the back of her head. "I thought you guys would be bad news!"

"We are, and- Stop it!"

Takano continued to struggle against Namiji's rampaging affection but ultimately he lost the battle, the brown-haired girl planting her lips on his for the final _coup de grace._ Her silver wings unfolded from the Sekirei symbol on her back, illuminating the tunnel walls as the subway train rolled on.

Kazehana let out a lovesick sigh and clasped her hands together, sinking from her feet into Minato's lap. Perhaps it was male instinct, or maybe a subconscious thought transmitted through their bond (either one was fine by Kazehana), but it compelled her husband to reach out and catch her bridal-style. As Namiji finally got her fill of Takano, Minato stood up in a show of masculinity and carried his first Sekirei over to where his second was seated, planting himself next to Musubi while Kazehana eyed the opposite pair of lovers.

"No need to be shy," Kazehana heatedly breathed, her arms around Minato's shoulders as she leveled her most seductive stare at Takano. "Unless there's someone else…"

One of those arms dipped at the elbow and slipped under her breast, dragging the plump mound up before letting it flop back down, leaving no doubt as to who she was referring to.

"No thanks," Takano said, slipping an arm around Namiji's waist and pulling her close.

Kazehana dropped the act looked at the other Sekirei. " _You_ found yourself a keeper, hun."

Namiji beamed at her. "And I'll be keeping him forever, _thank you very much_."

No. 3 chuckled. "Don't worry. I don't poach, especially with someone's Ashikabi."

That was when The Wind Sekirei was ambushed by Minato kissing her lips and lighting her up like a New Year's celebration.

"Geez, have a little restraint, you two." Takano curled his lip; this guy wasn't stopping at just kissing. "You're really close to obscene. Wouldn't see _me_ doing that with Namiji."

His Sekirei giggled. "Not in public, anyway." This earned her an elbow from her Ashikabi. She countered by pecking him on the cheek.

"Well, our Landlady _does_ call her 'Ms. Public Obscenity' when she's not around," Musubi stated, in a tone that was neither joking nor serious.

Takano looked at her, then to the purple-dressed woman, who was still forcing her Ashikabi's hand to her chest. "It fits," he declared.

Kazehana had begun to lie back onto the seat, which was Minato's cue to disengage, assisted by Musubi's arms around his neck.

"Remind me to have a talk with Miya about her nicknames," Kazehana murmured, pleasantly stupefied as she sat back up and swung her legs off of her husband's.

"So," the former _ronin_ began, "you guys know anything about this match?"

"Just what the email said," replied Takano, apparently having decided to drop his "tough outsider" shtick. "Honestly, I don't know even where we're supposed to get off."

He hunched forward, his knees providing support for his elbows. "Namiji and me got on and we thought we'd find some kind of special station. That was a few stops ago, and we haven't seen anything the whole time."

"Actually," Namiji spoke up, earning her Ashikabi's attention as she wrapped an arm around her halberd. "I saw a door speed by that said 'MBI Personnel Only'. It was on a little platform." Now her temple touched the metal shaft as she looked at the floor. "Maybe… About as long as this car?"

"What?" Takano turned to her. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged innocently. "You looked so into explaining your plan to me that I didn't wanna interrupt you."

"What?" Takano said, not at all selling his bewilderment. "What plan?"

"I know!" Musubi announced. "The plan where you guys pretend to be really tough and mean until you figure out if we can be trusted, right?"

"Well, almost," Namiji stated. "We were actually supposed to come off as tough so no one would pick a fight w-"

Takano elbowed her again, cutting her off, so she giggled and kissed him on the cheek again.

Minato looked between them, somewhat of a chore now that Kazehana had her arms around the parts of his skinny neck that Musubi hadn't claimed. "You guys don't like fighting, huh?"

"Takano doesn't," Namiji said, now mirroring the other Sekirei in their neck-capturing posture. "But I do."

"So do I!" proclaimed Eighty-Eight, sliding off Minato, leaning forward with her hands on the seat, between her legs. "What's _your_ favorite part?"

"The rush, just before we meet." Namiji didn't waste even a second.

"I like that, but my favorite's always the first punch!" Musubi stood up.

"What about that feeling you get when you're about to swing?" Namiji suggested, sliding off. "You know, when you've been standing still, staring your opponent down and your arms get that little tingle?"

"That too!" Musubi exclaimed. "I never know what it is, but I like it!"

"And jumping around?"

"And flipping off of walls!"

By now, both of them were out of their seats and in each other's faces like schoolgirls excitedly discussing some hunky guy.

"Do you improvise?"

"All the time! What about you?"

"I try to, but my halberd's always a part of it. Kind of limiting."

"Well, maybe you have some amazing power and don't know yet!"

"What do you mean?"

"Yume-sama was a fist-type like me, but she could make energy balls appear and shoot them from her hands." Musubi took a glance at her palms. "I can, too. Sort of…"

"That's way cool!" Namiji clenched her fists in front of her. "I'll find my own power, whatever it takes."

"All it takes is focus, and an Ashikabi's love."

Namiji broke off from her erstwhile gossip partner to dive back on to Takano. "So I'll focus on my Ashikabi!" she declared happily.

Minato was looking on, his face jerking about like a stiff bobblehead doll as he tried to keep his laughter suppressed. Takano, opposite him, looked like he was trying to push his closed eyes together, via his middle finger and palm.

"Urrrrrgh…"

Minato shrugged. "You're her Ashikabi; aren't you used to this?"

"I thought I was," Takano groaned, "before I found out she has a twin."

"Where?!" Musubi looked all around the car, eyes wild with excitement.

"I don't actually," Namiji informed her, looking slightly disappointed herself. Then, at her hooded friend. "Do I?"

"It was an expression," he grumbled.

"Oh…" She leaned away and gently swung off his thigh and into her seat.

Takano nudged her, then put an arm around her shoulders when she looked up at him. "Hey, don't get me wrong. I'd _kill_ to have another Sekirei like you."

Namiji brightened a little. "Really?"

"Really." Even so, Takano started to glower and turn his gaze to the steel floor, but Namiji still caught him on the lips anyway.

"I just…" Takano clenched his hands and shook his fists, his Sekirei's kiss left unreciprocated. "I'm just so _sick_ of _sitting_ on this _damn subway!_ "

"I can imagine," Minato chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I used to go to cram school; it's even worse in the mornings."

"Believe me, I'd take a bunch of smelly homeless guys sleeping all over the car if it meant getting some directions. 'Just get on, get to the action'. And who knows how long it'll be before we see another station?! I am _completely_ in the wrong mood for more damn motion sickness!"

"Oh, come on," Kazehana jovially jabbed. "It couldn't have been _that_ bad."

" _ **It was!**_ "

Silence descended, the only sound just long enough for the younger Ashikabi to regret his outburst, and for Kazehana to settle in to looking quite buzzkilled.

"Hey."

The blonde Ashikabi looked slightly leftward and saw a somewhat widened, somewhat miffed pair of gray eyes staring back at him.

"I don't care how long it's been," Minato told him. Kazehana's Ashikabi stood, cracking his knuckles, his jacket sleeves hanging on his arms and showing off the small amount of musculature he'd been packing on. "I don't care who you had to ride with, or where you came from. _Don't-_ "

He jabbed a finger at Takano, his wrist bent slightly, his knuckle line tilted diagonally, exactly like how Kagedansu taught him how to punch.

"-talk to my wife like that. Get me?"

Kazehana and Musubi were staring at him, taken aback in all the right ways. Namiji was hugging her Ashikabi, who kept a level head save for a slight scowl that flashed across his face unintentionally.

The fist-type was practically glowing. Her smile was molded to her beautiful features as if a master sculptor had crafted it. Her Sekirei symbol was sending gentle waves of love through her form as Minato's emotions resonated through their bond. Even Yume, buried within Musubi's _tama_ next to her heart, stirred a little in her slumber. If she still had a body to do it, the Fate Sekirei would be smiling, too.

On Minato's other side, invisible flower petals danced. The Wind Sekirei was full-on blushing; her breath was still and her fingers were splayed across her beautiful bosom. She could feel the intensity, the protectiveness that her Ashi-… No, that her _husband_ felt for her. And he'd finally called her _that_ , the word she'd wanted to hear ever since Tsukiumi brought it up. For the longest time, she was never sure if her Minato would ever return the sentiment.

 _Kagedansu,_ she thought, _you're a miracle worker._

There were so many things she wanted to do to Minato right now, about half of them legal. But, she could wait, as Takano sighed and opened his mouth to respond.

"You're right," he said, hanging his head and holding up a hand. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine!" Kazehana assured him, waving off his humility. "Feel free to do it again."

Takano lifted his face, looking slightly disturbed. Kazehana forgave him for that: Minato was not someone easily coaxed into being manly, and one would have to know _him_ to know _that_.

"Think I'll pass," he said to the raven-haired Sekirei. "Thanks for being so chill about it."

"Oh, trust me," said Kazehana, sweetly smiling at him, "you dodged a bullet."

"I've GOT IT!"

Everyone collectively flinched at Musubi's sudden outburst; one could almost _hear_ the tension shattering.

"We have to get off between stations!" she proclaimed, standing up and taking Minato by the hand.

"And _that's_ how we enter the second match!" Namiji finished for her, also standing.

" **Wait,** _ **what?!**_ " both Ashikabis cried simultaneously.

"Think about it," Musubi said, turning her head to Minato even as she began pulling him towards the rear door. "There were only eight Ashikabis in the last match, and twenty-four Sekirei, all fighting really far away from people."

"So…?" Minato inquired, though with a courteous tone.

"So if this match is happening _around_ people," Musubi continued, "and there are just as many Sekirei in it as the last one, then The Professor would've thought of some way to keep all of us from fighting at once."

"Who?" Takano asked.

"Minaka," Minato replied.

"Heh. As if that wacko could hold a job he didn't own."

"So because we're not allowed to hurt civilians," Namiji continued for her darker-haired counterpart, "the fights would stay in the rear cars until the cars were wrecked. Then, we'd fight in the tunnels, then keep going forward to avoid another subway train coming along."

"Eventually," Musubi concluded, "we'd walk until we either reached the next station or found an entrance way, taking us to the tunnels where the second match is happening."

"Or," Kazehana chimed in, not wanting to get _completely_ one-upped by Musubi's idiot-savanthood, "someone else might reach the station, give up and go home, meaning less Sekirei in the tunnels."

"Also true!" Musubi exclaimed, ripping the rear emergency door off and pulling it inside. Immediately, the clattering cacophony of wheels on tracks assaulted everyone's ears, the Sekirei especially.

"Musubi, sweetie, could you maybe warn us next time?" requested The Wind Sekirei.

"Oh. Sorry, everyone."

"What?!" Minato shouted. "Musubi, you'll have to be louder!"

"I said, 'Sorry'!"

"Oh! Gotcha!"

"Hold it!" Kazehana bellowed, at least as best she could, pushing her way to the fore. Once there, she turned to Namiji. "That little station you mentioned: was it in the wall or sticking out?"

"Sticking out," Namiji responded, neither she nor Number 3 raising their voices. "I never felt the train swerve, either."

"Thanks." That in mind, the train entered a long stretch of parallel tracks, at least four different lines, in a long chamber dotted with columns and illuminated by dull yellow lights. Their car was on the far side, hugging the wall, which meant there was only one place for another station to appear.

Feeling around the outside, Kazehana got a much better idea and pulled back in.

"Musubi, you think you could hold on to the car and keep watch around the side?"

"I think so." The brunette mimicked what she'd seen the older Sekirei do, except she actually possessed enough hand-strength to sink her fingers into the metal encasing the car. Leaning around the side, Musubi peered down the line to see what was coming. Nothing, at first, but then the wall started to move away from the subway as it barreled along.

"I think…" Musubi swung herself back inside the car. "Here it comes!"

"Grab Minato, hurry!" Kazehana threw a hand out like she'd just cast a stone, and the echoing sound following in the car's wake had its pitch and timbre altered, ever so subtly.

"Jump, you guys!" Musubi was the first one out, hugging Minato close to herself and facing the retreating car as she pushed off. Namiji followed, her Ashikabi held between herself and her halberd. Both girls felt a strange cushion of air on their backs as they neared the ground, and their velocity slowed considerably. Making sure not to step on the third rail, the Sekirei were finally off the train.

All three of them.

"Down here!" Minato's first Sekirei and second wife (by order of declaration) had her alto voice carried quite well by the brick work, if the former _ronin_ did-say-so-himself. He and Musubi quickly ran alongside the tracks to where their third was standing, a red light casting shadows over her body. Even in a filthy subway tunnel, Minato noted, Kazehana still looked gorgeous.

Next to her was a steel door, with no visible locking mechanism to speak of. Indeed, the only thing to resist an intruder's grasp was its sheer weight, and even then, Minato had opened heavier doors in his 19 years.

Number Eighty-Eight about-faced and called down the subway tunnel. "Hey, are you guys coming with us?"

At first, there was no answer, save for the hollow echoes of Musubi's voice. When it came, it came not as words but from the sounds of footsteps approaching.

"That depends," Takano said quietly. "You guys ever tangled with the Discipline Squad?"

"Unfortunately," replied The Wind Sekirei.

Namiji nodded. "Then let's team up and find those Jinki together."

"In a second," said Musubi, turning back towards the tunnel. She cupped her gloved hands around her mouth and called, "Echo!"

" _Echo. echo… o…"_

The fist-type giggled. "Hellooo-ooo!"

" _Looo-ooo. Ooo-ooo. ooo-ooo…_ "

And from the darkness of the dimly-lit tunnels, a slimy denizen slurred back.

" _ **Hello**_ _there,_ " it murmured. A wet click followed, almost like the smacking of lips, but less intentional, like they were only… Parting to form a sinister smile.

" _Still alive, I see. How fares that bump I gave you?_ "

Musubi felt a hand take her own; she gave it a gentle squeeze as she was led into the MBI tunnels, which themselves were even darker than the subway's.

"Who was that?" asked Takano, his own Sekirei clinging to him a little less longlingly and a little more fearfully.

Minato turned his head slightly towards the door. "A pest," was all he spat, as contemptuously as he could make it. While his eyes were adjusting to the dimmer dark, the raven-haired _ronin_ heard that same voice taunt again.

" _Merely a pest, am I?"_ it chuckled darkly. " _Ooooh, I think we can do better than_ _ **that**_ …"

Minato couldn't slam that steel door hard enough.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seo looked up at the massive behemoth that had been brought to a screeching halt by his two Sekirei. Not that one could tell: the train was simply sitting still, dead on the tracks, the electric motors completely cooked.

"Went a little overboard, don't you think?"

"If you think I'm jumping off a moving subway," Hikari spouted, crossing her indigo-gloved arms, "in heel, then congrats: that's gotta be your record for moron-headed thoughts."

"Hey, come on, Hikari," the Ashikabi replied smoothly, "all I'm saying is that you didn't have to strand all those people in this dark, dank…"

Hikari felt his arm slide around her body.

"… _cold_ tunnel."

Hikari glared at him. "Grope me and I'll fry you."

Seo shrugged. "Suit yourself. What's the scoop, Hibiki?"

The latter half of the Raiden Sisters touched down in front of the squabbling couple, her V-shaped hairdo falling in behind her.

"Not too far. About a hundred meters, I think."

Seo reached out and dusted her off, focusing heavily on her purple top. "Welp, then let's get a move on." He took her by the hand and pulled her over to his free side, holding her as he held Hikari. "Won't be long before those poor guys inside start running into the Discipline Squad."

"Shouldn't we hurry it up?" Number 11 asked impatiently.

"The Squad can handle most other Sekirei," replied her sister. "And it's unlikely that anyone follow us, now that another train's blocking the line."

"Ah-haaa, so that was the plan all along, eh?" Seo inquired mischievously.

Hibiki smiled, reaching up to lace her fingers among the hand that hung from her shoulder. "That was _my_ plan, anyway."

Seo felt a smack on his left hand; it seemed Hikari thought he was getting too close to her boob. That _wasn't_ his plan, believe it or not. As he'd discovered, the angrier of the Thunder Twins had her time and place for stuff like that, and she'd let things go a lot farther if he picked the right locale.

This wasn't it.

A quick ball of lightning would've blasted the lock off the door, if someone hadn't already torn it off its hinges. Whoever it was must've been pretty strong, if they could nearly cave the door in with their knee, enough to sink their fingers behind it. It didn't bother Seo, but he held his girls tighter anyway. With their choice of clothes, heat retention wasn't exactly a guarantee.

"Jeez, you think with all of Minaka's money, he could afford decent lighting."

Indeed, Seo could barely see inside the so-called "bigger, better, more hi-tech" subway tunnels; the complimentary lights barely reached two meters before the darkness swallowed them whole. Not for long, though, as Hibiki closed a fist and sent light flickering through the tunnel, thanks to small forks of pink lightning dancing about hand. Truth be told, this place looked more like a sewer or the old Beach Pneumatic Transit in New York City, two things he'd read up on while studying engineering at college: circular tunnel, with the bottom cut out in a wide rectangular channel running along the line. The sides of the channel had further imperfections heaped upon the circle-shape of the chamber's walls, with a flat lip on each side, probably for a makeshift walkway, built along the channel.

Not that knowing all this did him any good, considering he was on his eleventh semester.

Seo looked to his left, where Hikari strode, coiled up in his arm. "Not gonna help?"

The Ashikabi felt an uncomfortable buzz in his ribs, and a finger at the epicenter.

"There, I helped," said Hikari. "Now save it for when we find one of the Squad."

"What's eating you, Hikari?" her sister asked, a note of concern dogging her query.

"What's eating me is that I hate being down here with who knows how many other Sekirei and a pervert who's constantly staring at my chest," she replied, her hostility lessened from who she conversed with, and the fact that Seo ceased gazing down her considerable cleavage. "Did you forget? We have a reputation."

That was true. Going around attacking Sekirei before they were winged, and having some of them escape, was bound to leave bad blood. And given how many people received that email… Well, if the twins were gambling girls, they'd bet money on someone they attacked being down here. Heaven forbid that same someone was the unknown door-destroyer.

"Depends," Seo offered. "You guys know someone who could do that to solid steel?"

Hikari sulked. "I hate it when you do that…"

"Do what?"

"Guess _exactly_ what we're thinking."

Seo grinned again. "I'm your Ashikabi, and I also have all that weird crap that Takehito shot me up with."

Number Eleven's lips pursed. "I still hate it…"

"Heeey…"

Hikari felt the hand on her sternum drift up to her chin. She glared at Seo as he kissed her, gently, his tongue pushing past her lips just enough to ignite her violet wings. She looked away, and continued to as they separated, though no amount of pouting could hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Lighten up."

Hikari swung at his face but missed, Seo craning his head forward so as to catch her arm at the joint when he pulled back, his hand briefly leaving Hibiki to softly but firmly pull Hikari's into place around his shoulders.

"You could've given us away, you idiot," Hikari told him.

"And here I was thinking you hated my pun," Seo replied, the grin on his face absolutely _unbearable._

"Yeah, well… I hated _that_ , too…"

That's when they heard it, all three of them, human and Sekirei alike: the soft, screeching grind of metal on concrete.

The twins peered out from either side of Seo's chest, looking at each other. Sekirei had a bond with their Ashikabi, but there was also some kind of bond between twins that human science had yet to fully explain. As with most things, what held true for humans worked ten-fold for Sekirei, at _least_. Neither twin communicated with words, nor images, not even emotions. They just _knew_ , beyond a shadow of a doubt, what the other was thinking at that moment.

Their footsteps slowed and the clicks of their heels softened, no longer leaving an audible echo.

"What's the hold-up, guys?" Seo asked. He grinned. "You worried about me?"

"What if we are?" Hikari muttered angrily, still blushing.

"Juuust wondering."

 _What is he trying to pull_ , the twins wondered. They were all on edge; one didn't need to be a special Ashikabi to sense that. The channel was below them, to everyone's right, and they _still_ imagined being shoved over and swallowed by its meter-deep sea of empty air. Hibiki and Hikari really wished Seo would just stop with the "smooth operator" act and let their nerves stay shot already.

Oh, who were they kidding? The sisters rose at once, planting kisses on both of Seo's cheeks. He was strong enough to catch them _and_ keep walking as their feet left the ground.

"AaAaAaAGH!"

Hikari touched down, her Ashikabi's fried arm going limp by her side. "I warned you."

Hibiki sighed, somewhat envious of the attention her sister always received. It didn't help that Sekirei apparently had their proportions change the longer and more intimate they were with their Ashikabi, meaning the gap between her and Hibiki would likely remain the same forever.

 _You don't know how lucky you are,_ each twin thought about the other, Seo's boots dragging behind them as they carried his charred husk along.

That sound came again, closer this time. Seo managed to regain his footing and dust himself off. They could discern it better: it wasn't one object scratching rock, but several at once. Hibiki closed her eyes and killed her electro-light, plunging the circular tunnel into darkness once again. While Hikari's pupils began to shrink, adjusting to the new lack of light, Hibiki opened her violet orbs and gazed far down the shaft. Featureless, just like the rest of it, but what she found interesting was a man-made crevice that broke the endless stream of wall at a 90-degree angle, on the right-hand side.

Considering these tunnels had begun construction at least 3 years ago, that meant Minaka had the Sekirei Plan planned out far longer than Seo had ever guessed. Or, more specifically, Seo hadn't anticipated the Chairman of the Board mapping out the play-by-play this precisely, and so far ahead of time. So many things could've gone wrong, so many mishaps could've occurred, not including the invasions.

Yet everything had fallen into place for that lunatic. Seo had to give him a begrudging amount of respect, for being either the most flexible or most prophetic human being alive at that moment.

Now, if only Minaka could've spared some of that foresight to go with those improved light fixtures he hadn't installed.

Now approaching the lip of this mysterious new corridor, Hibiki and Hikari detached from their Ashikabi and took a peek around the edge. Surprisingly, there was nothing.

They caught that sound again, definitely closer.

With nothing to impede them, the three wordlessly concluded that the best thing to do was press on, try and find the combat they still had a trail. Said trail eventually led them through a few more corridors, involving two more right turns (somehow), a cube-shaped chamber with two branching tunnels on either side, and the miraculous avoidance of any other Sekirei. Or, so they thought.

" _Twaaaaas bril-lig… and the slithy toves... Did a-gyre and gim-bel in the wabe…"_

"Who's there?" Hikari demanded.

" _All mim-sy... were the borogoves… And the mome raaathss out-graaaayyybe."_

"Show yourself," Hibiki called calmly, slipping behind and leaning her back on Seo's while Hikari did the same with his chest. The Ashikabi, for his part, was trying to match that medium-pitched, breathy, out-there voice to a Sekirei. He thought through the list of male Sekirei, as the speaker was definitely a man, albeit one that sounded like he was doing a bad, half-crazy impression of the Disney take on Winnie the Pooh.

"LLoooose something?"

Number 12 spun around from behind Seo and looked to the top of the chamber. This second voice that spoke was equally strange, a full octave deeper than the first, almost feminine if not for the slight tilt towards the masculine side of the spectrum. It reminded them of a freaky goddess from a movie Seo once watched with them, who came out of a portal in a skyscraper and looked like she was cosplaying as David Bowie.

This person, though, was not David Bowie. They were seated criss-cross on the ceiling, upside-down, completely coated in black, so much so that the only reason The Raiden Twins knew his posture was the hole through which poked the image of the brick work. The yellow eyes were a little eerie, though, as was the fact that the teeth in the loiterer's smirking grin were clear as day.

"Did _you?_ " countered Hikari.

"On the contrary," they replied, still smirking, "I know _exactly_ where I am, and where you are."

"And where's that? … Wait-"

"Why..." The eyes widened, to optimal taunting size. "Right here, of course!"

They returned to their previous quarter-closed position. "I thought that much obvious, to one who isn't _styupid_."

This earned him, and Hikari had decided that it was a "him", a bolt of lightning to the face. He vanished, his form almost wiped away like a piece of paper catching fire and the ashen pieces blowing in the wind.

"Ah ah ah!" Now he was on the floor, finger waggling and form fading back as the light faded out. "Mustn't be too hasty. Never know what kind of _dastardly_ tricks I might be hiding."

Hikari decided not to give him the chance, and just blast him again. Just like before, he vanished.

"What happened to saving it for the Discipline Squad?" Seo asked her smugly.

" _Hey! I'm already catching lip from_ **this** _jackass and_ _I don't need another one right now, okay?!_ "

"My my, touchy-touchy," smarmed the interloper, having delayed his reentry this time, now sitting on the lip protruding from the wall. "And rude, too."

" _I'm_ rude?!" Hikari spun around, marching over to where he sat, completely ignoring the fact that he seemed to float away like a ghost, always keeping out of reach. " _I'm_ not the one wasting everyone's damn time and calling them 'stupid' for not answering your stupid questions correctly!"

"What questions?" he asked.

"The one about…" Hikari halted, trying to recall exactly _what_ he'd asked her.

"Having difficulty, I see," he said, swiveling around to lean against the curved wall, "possibly because I asked _one_ question. Which you failed to answer, I might add, instead deciding to pry into my business."

He grinned at her, shooting a glance over to where the other twin and her Ashikabi stood.

"I'd wager you _have_ lost something, the same thing that I've had all along." There was just enough light in the tunnel to see the flick of his black hand. "Alas, 'tis not something I can share freely, much as I wish it were otherwise."

Seo's eyes narrowed a little as he gazed into the strangers. Shot in the dark (ha ha), but maybe this guy had already snagged himself a Jinki.

"You sure about that?" he offered, taking a few steps forward, his boots' kloking echoes sounding like they were coming from everywhere at once. "Maybe we can work something out."

"No no," said the black stranger. "I mean I _literally_ can't give it to you. At least, it's unlikely."

"Well, that depends," Seo said, taking a seat further down the lip while Hibiki plopped herself down between him and his conversation partner. Hikari remained off to the side, arms crossed and the occasional flicker of pink sparks signaling her agitation.

"Whaddo you got?" Seo had played poker before; he had a sense for when someone was bluffing.

"What I have," replied the shadow, "is my way."

The Ashikabi frowned, as did his attendant Sekirei. "What?"

"My way!" he repeated, there being just enough light around his black silhouette to register his shrug. "My way of life, my way of doing things, my way of seeing the world, my way to go!"

He showed them his pearly whites. "Care to guess which one I offer?"

"None of them?" Hibiki replied.

A sharp clap of hands reverberated throughout the stonework. "Why, yes! Most would've assumed I can make parcels out of abstracts, but not you, Hibiki!"

He turned his yellow gaze to where Hikari stood. "Why can't you be more like here, Eleven?"

The sparks about Hikari's arms flared more angrily.

"Aha," the stranger quipped. "Strikes me as a cop-out, but who am I to judge?"

Personally, Seo was at once really intrigued but really getting sick of this guy. He had places to be, things to do, hot Sekirei to bang, and groceries to mooch. Albeit, not in that order, unless there was still time in the day after the match.

"However…" The phantom-like so-and-so leaned back and lay down against the hard surface of the concrete blocks, his somewhat unsettling irises transfixed on Seo. "I do have _one_ thing I could offer… Well, actually, a _few_ things, but..."

Seo extended his arms and stretched his toned muscles. The stranger did the same even as he spoke again.

"Namely, _your_ way. _Fortunately!_ "

With a quick spring-board leap off the wall, he was back on his feet, his footfalls completely silent. "I am also in the mood to offer assistance."

"Assistance?" Hibiki couldn't sound more skeptical if she tried. "What kind of assistance?"

"The _best_ kind, of course!" he chirped. "Have a listen…"

Seo frowned, as did the Twins, Hikari having momentarily abandoned her march towards her heckler. After a few moments, they heard that same screech-on-metal come from the right-hand crevice.

"Welp, see ya!" Seo grinned at him, waving at the stranger while pulling Hibiki along, though the Ashikabi's eyes never left his mysterious benefactor.

"Where are you going?" Hikari asked, jerking a thumb behind her as she faced them. "It came from down there."

"Huh?" Both Seo and Hibiki ogled her warily, Seo not even sneaking a peek at her boobs.

"Listen again," said Number 11. The black man drifted past her and, in the single instance where something _other_ than his mouth made noise, snapped his fingers. In doing so, he sent both the two skeptics' minds spinning, for the click came not from his silhouette but from their immediate left.

"Wonderful acoustics, aren't they?" he asked jovially. "No idea how Minaka pulled it off."

"I'll say," Seo said, turning to head towards the stranger. "But what's in it for you?"

"I?" asked the man, making a move like he was placing a hand on his chest; without _any_ light to distinguish his features, it was hard to tell.

"Yeah," Hibiki accused him, stopping Seo tracks. "You think we're stupid enough to trust you?"

The man grinned and rolled his eyes. "Mwe-ell, if you'd _really_ like to know…"

" _Shut up!_ " Hikari barked. Lightning flashed in her palm but it traveled down her arm before swirling about her chest, swallowed by the _tama_ next to her heart.

He shrugged. "Discourteous as usual, I see." While Hikari growled and ground her teeth, Seo taking her in his arm once again, the unknown entity continued to heckle them.

"Aren't I allowed to be charitable?" he asked, swooning back with a hand held to his forehead. "Is there no good deed left in this world that may pass unquestioned; so few kind souls that even the most generous among them must have their motives scrutinized?"

His eyes screwed shut, and from the outline of his teeth, he looked aghast with despair. " _What_ is this world coming to?!"

"Just spill, guy," Seo said cholerically. "We don't have all day."

"Oh, very well," came the reply, the black man's body language returning to "normal" as his yellow eyes moved from Hibiki to Hikari. "One of the Discipline Squad lurks ahead, one that I believe is the perfect match for you. Rather, the perfect _unfair_ match, what with her wearing a pair of lightning rods as gloves."

"Haihane, is it?" Seo said, stroking his chin-fuzz with his hand. "Gotta admit, that's a pretty sweet deal, running into her. Hey!"

"Running into _anyone_ from the Squad is never a good deal," said Hibiki, lifting her heel off of his foot before sighing. "Still, it's probably the best we can do down here, given the alternatives. That _is_ if you-"

She turned to offer another dose of skepticism to the stranger, but he was nowhere to be found. Vanished, it seemed, into thin air.

The two of them naturally turned to Hikari, who threw up her hands in front of her. "Hey, don't look at me! I was paying attention to you guys."

"Well, you must be getting sloppy, if that's all it took to get the drop on you," Seo mused. He grinned. "I gotta remember that while we're home."

After the twins used him as a makeshift filament (again), they picked him up and hopped to the other side of the bottom channel, continuing on towards the fighting-sounds.

"Who _was_ that creep?" Hibiki pondered

"No- _ho-_ " Seo coughed, accidentally inhaling a speck of dust. "-idea. Never heard of a Sekirei that could do that kind of stuff. Spoke pretty good English, though."

"And what about the other one?" said Hikari. "The one we never saw."

Seo huffed. "Same guy, probably. Voice affectation isn't that hard, if you know how to work it."

From in front of them-

" _And the_

-then behind-

 _mo-ome raaaths,_

-then slowly drifting from back to front…

 _out-graaayyybe…"_

Came that same higher-pitched voice, chuckling its song as if it knew something they didn't.

Seo huffed again. "Voice-throwing, too. Nice try, guy!"

His call resonated through the halls, its own echo the only answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Her breath grew heavier, not as it left her lungs, but as it touched the air. The white mist that coiled from her teeth almost seemed to cling to her, and in a blur of grey and black she was away, sacrificing only her feet to the icy coffin that formed. Making the most of its immovable mass, the black-clad hunter torqued her torso up while her feet remained fixed, avoiding the iron pole as it descended on where her neck had been fractions of a second before, the headless headsman's axe smashing the stone beneath her.

Freedom came courtesy of the steel she wore, carving through the frozen shackle and allowing her to flip to freedom. Her body completely vertical as she dodged the inevitable upward swing, her claw flicked out and drove her attacker back. Her third foe, the most timid of the three, gave her attack away with its high-pitched ringing sound.

The ground beneath Haihane crumbled as she jumped forward, syncing her aerial tumble with the thrust of her opponent's polearm. Her feet slammed down on the hapless Sekirei's weapon, and the sonic wave that had been intended for her instead traveled up the iron pole and into its wielder's hands.

The Blue Sekirei was far too savvy to injure herself with her own stratagem. She'd already vaulted off the pole, the tip now hammered into the ground, speeding on even as The Discarded Number threw icy daggers her way. She was just as smart, as Haihane's balancing act had left Number 7's allies completely out of the danger zone.

But not smart enough to anticipate Haihane's claws shredding her ice as The Blue Sekirei spiraled towards her. Akitsu zoomed aside, her foe's shoulder cushioning her roll to her feet, her arms spread and fingers splayed as she eyed Akitsu's jugular.

"Since your haircut's fine," One-O-Four purred, flicking a talon through her short ponytail, nicking her neck in the process, "why don't I snip something else?"

"A courtesy I'd gladly extend to you," Akitsu replied, waving her arm and summoning a full-blown stalagmite of a spear. Breaking it off and grasping it in her hands, Akitsu pointed it at Haihane, flicking the tip up and beckoning the Discipline Squad member to come at her.

Haihane obliged, but was robbed of the close-quarters fight being offered. Instead, the tip of that giant icy splinter broke off and rocketed towards her. Haihane dodged aside, but was kept on her toes as the next jagged shard launched itself from Akitsu's weapon. Then a third, which only struck her due to her fondness for ramshackle clothes, and a fourth, scoring a bloody mark across her ribs as she skidded to change direction. Then came that ringing again, and with Akitsu's ammo still half-full, One-O-Four was forced to retreat towards it, putting some space between herself and Akitsu.

It was only when she whirled around to fight the timid little thing that she remembered the blonde-haired girl carried a tuning-fork _spear_.

"Ack! Get away from me!" yelped the Sekirei, swinging wildly at Haihane. Her clumsy attacks were easily dodged, The Blue Sekirei bobbing and weaving around the swipes save for a piece of her bandaging that already came loose from The Scrap Number's hit. But when she went for a counter-strike, that proved to be a mistake.

For Nanami carried not just a spear, but a _tuning-fork_ spear.

Number 104's arm went completely numb from the unpleasant tingling that filled it, losing all its momentum, talons sliding off the spearhead and dropping limp at her side. She tried for another thrust, just to nip this one at the bud. Blondie responded by slamming her weapon into the ground.

The resulting sonic wave that reverberated throughout the cavernous dead-end was heard by all, including those who approached. The high-pitched bell-sound was almost a scream, shaking a stone loose from the ceiling and sending it plummeting down on top of Juusa. Lucky for Nanami (and Juusa), Number 103 had recovered enough from her earlier incapacity to smash the wolf-sized block with her staff. That didn't mean Juusa was letting Nanami off without a good-glare.

"Sorry!" Nanami squeaked, shriveling around her tuning-fork spear. "My aim sucks when I'm nervous!"

"Forget 'aim', just remember _we're_ here, too!" Juusa barked, floundering her unsleeved arms as the white noise finally left them. "I am _not_ going out as collateral damage!"

"O-Okay!" Nanami grasped her weapon again, looking to Akitsu for support. Akitsu simply nodded, either at Nanami's gesture or Juusa's advice.

Haihane touched down against the back wall, close to where she'd stashed the Jinki and also near the hidden stairwell. Just another fifteen minutes or so, maybe a half-hour tops. Plenty of time for her to get back and tune in to her-

"AAAAGH!"

Haihane let her guard down for a moment, only keeping her eyes on the three she fought. Thus, the pink lightning that lashed out took her completely by surprise.

Smoke rising from her crispy garb, and a small flame burning on the tip of a stray hair, The Blue Sekirei put her back against the stone and slid to her feet, her vision coming back into focus.

"Huh. Guess he wasn't lying after all," said a familiar voice.

Haihane's hawkish eyes zeroed in on the speaker, picking him out immediately.

"Seo," she coughed, her arms a little sore from how intensely the muscles had seized.

"What's up, Haihane?" Seo chuckled, his voice carried through the chamber. "I didn't think you'd stick around for this. You were always the one looking for reasons to skip work."

"It's hardly trouble," Haihane commented. "The time limit's up before my show starts anyway."

"Time limit?" This came from all present, sans Akitsu.

"Time limit," Haihane grinned, flaring her claws.

From either side of their Ashikabi, the Lightning Twins eyed each other.

"Did we skip a line?" Hikari asked.

"I read it twice," replied Hibiki. "I didn't see _anything_ about the time."

"Too bad for you," Haihane snarked. "The instant Minaka's voice comes over the loudspeakers, I'm out."

"There were no loudspeakers down here," Akitsu stated calmly, arms lowering to her sides. "Everything you were told about this match was a lie."

 _Little sure of ourselves, aren't we?_ Despite her thoughts, a crack, small but noticeable, appeared in the self-confident mask Haihane wore. "Natsuo wouldn't lie to me."

"Hey, the guy has a job to do," Seo commented, detaching from his girls and taking a stroll out into the battleground. "I never liked the guy, but I knew him well enough to know he wouldn't lose sleep over something like this."

"He-" Haihane's retort caught in her throat. Who was she kidding? _She_ would lie to him, and she knew it. In fact, she was more truthful to Karasuba than their shared Ashikabi, an honestly that wasn't born from fear.

So, that in mind, Haihane turned around and dislodged the only hand-sized brick to weigh a little less than its brethren. Hollow it was, or had been, until she'd placed the Jinki inside of it. Soon, it was back to its former state, its crystalline contents in Haihane's clawed hand. She looked to Seo, then each of the three who'd been fighting her, stopping on Akitsu's emotionless gaze.

"You guys got a Jinki in the last match, right?" Haihane called. The Ice Sekirei simply nodded.

The Blue Sekirei then turned to Seo. "And you missed out."

Seo grinned. "Sure did." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Soooo, if it's not too much to ask…"

The Jinki was already sailing through the air, its stylized "03" slowly rotating with the rest of it. Despite her gear, Haihane's throw was adequate, Seo only needing two steps to put him within reach. He caught it like an American football, looking at it, getting a feel for its somewhat surprising weight.

"Thanks, Haihane," he called, holding it up

The Blue Sekirei grinned. "Don't thank me yet." A sharp click was heard. "See you."

And the wall spun around to ferret the Discipline Squaddie away.

The almost eerie silence that followed was quite jarring. The trio of Akitsu, Juusa and Nanami who'd been fighting tooth and nail to put Haihane down, looked to the new arrivals who'd taken their prize without a scratch for their troubles.

Akitsu was the first to speak, white mist beginning to form around her white robes, the chain about her neck and cleavage growing paler.

"Our master desires another Jinki," she stated evenly. "Give it to us."

Hikari and Hibiki were at Seo's side in an instant, their voices as one.

" _How 'bout no?"_


	60. The Weakest Prey

**Chapter 60: The Weakest Prey**

" _ **Daaaay**_ _-o_!"

All five of them, from Musubi all the way down the line to Namiji, stopped dead in their tracks.

" _Daa-aa-aay-o!_ "

What was he up to _this_ time?

" _Day-light cohm an' me waahn go ho-oome…_ "

Then, a sort of noise like "hh hh hh": the unmistakable sound of chortling, ambient and all-encompassing as the a cappella heckling of what could've only been Hametsu. Who else could pull off acoustics like that?

"Tell Namiji to keep her eyes peeled," Minato said, his head remaining fixed on the onward path: a square-shaped tunnel with prismatic columns lining the walls, supporting the streets above.

"I'm right here, you know," Number 73 quipped.

"Yeah," her Ashikabi replied, squeezing her closer against his side, "but that's not why he said it how he did."

Namiji giggled and looped an arm around Takano's waist, cuddling close. Musubi felt compelled to do the same, for some reason. They'd been walking for a while, and despite her Sekirei endurance, her feet were starting to hurt. Jumping all over the rooftops was the only way to go; this walking was as boring as it was slow-moving. Where was the wind, the sunlight, that dizziness she felt when she jumped a little too high, too fast? Musubi knew where: straight up, being hogged by all the Sekirei that skipped the match. When was she finally going to fight someone?!

" _ **Day!**_ "

"Ow! Watch it!"

By the sound of it, Namiji had almost cracked Takano's hip from how hard the sudden staccato voice had startled her. Luckily, she'd been hard-wired from birth to not injure her destined partner, even by an unconscious squeeze.

" _Me say day, me-say-day mesayday mesaydaymesayda-ay-o-o…_ "

"But why, though?" Takano asked aloud.

"I don't know," shrugged Musubi.

" _Day-light cohmm an' me waaahn gooo-o-o-ooo…_ "

Then, silence. No more singing, no creeping shadows, nothing that Minato, Musubi or Kazehana would recognize as telltale signs of the lurker.

So, the unlikely alliance continued on, through brickwork halls designed to service anything but subway trains, looking more like the masonry of a catacomb or tomb. True, the ceiling above was all that stood between the wanderers and freedom, but how deep had they gone? A way's back, water had flowed through a crack in the wall, either an unknown water source or a leaky pipe, making its presence known. That trickle, in what little light existed in this humid, yawning passage, had glisteningly flowed from the crack and moved alongside the five. It never wavered, always winding forward, the hypnotic spider's web always reuniting with itself, the quintet's gaze never straying from it as they trudged on, until they appeared to lose track of, well, everything. What was at the end of this tunnel, and how deep would it ferry them? Only one could say for sure, lying in wait as he was.

"Something wrong, Minato?" Musubi turned her brown-eyed pretty girl gaze on his own.

"No, why?" he asked.

"Then why'd you tap me?" she asked, the callus on his fingers having left a slight itch on her neck.

She felt his grip about her shoulders tighten. He didn't answer; she assumed he must've had a good reason.

"Finally!" Musubi cheered, breaking from their group and racing right. Past one of the stone columns, a small rectangle had revealed itself (well, at least as tall as Minato, and as wide as two Minatos). They might've walked right by it if Musubi hadn't been scanning her surroundings. At this point, any deviation, any break from Takano's suggestion of counting bricks, was welcome. Numbers bored her anyway.

"Wait! Musubi, where're you going?"

It was too late. Musubi ran smack-dab into the entrance and splatted herself face-first against it. She thought it was glass at first, but putting her hand against it, the cool, rough feeling that tingled her fingertips and scraped against her gloves reminded her more of the bricks. A quick swipe along the surrounding wall proved her right.

"Huh," she remarked, peeling herself off the surface and rapping a fist against it. It looked like nothing was there, but between her and the next passageway was some kind of force-field. She couldn't see it, and there probably wasn't enough light to reflect off it like glass, buuuut….

"I got this, guys!" she declared, closing her fingers and drawing her hand back.

"No! Musubi, you're going to-!"

Musubi felt her knuckles connect with something, and there was a loud cracking noise. She stepped back, the light from the other side having turned green, and her punch having smashed some of the surrounding wall, as well. It was almost like this force-field was built in with the wall. Musubi thought about asking Matsu about it, when they got back to Maison Izumo.

A strong gust of wind brought Musubi out of her thoughts, and a brick broke itself on top of her head.

"Ow!" she yelped, rubbing the spot. It didn't hurt as much as Miya-sama's wooden sword, but she couldn't help it! Why would someone drop bricks on her head without announcing their number first?

She spun around, fists up and ready to fight, but no one else was there. It was just Minato, Kazehana, Takano-san, and Namiji-san. In the fresh light she'd allowed in, now that the barrier had been smashed, Musubi could see chunks of brick and dirt around her friends, the two boys looking like they'd just done a sprint. Minato was in the middle of muttering a "Thanks" to Kazehana.

"Going to what, Minato?" Musubi asked, unsure of what just happened.

"Bring the ceiling _and_ the street _and_ maybe a few cars down on top of us!" Minato snapped, still leaning on his knees. "You know, if we're _really_ unlucky!"

Musubi started at this.

"I just…" Her voice started to tremble. "I-I just wanted to-"

" _Think_ next time!" Minato didn't let up. "Ask yourself what else might happen if you punch a hole in a wall, besides making a big hole!"

"I…" She was starting to cry, her head sinking down to stare at the rubble. "I didn't know it would-"

"How could you not?!" Minato's hands clamped down on his scalp and he sucked in air through his nostrils, puffing out his chest in the process. He leveled his eyes at her, looking like he was about to yell at her some more, when-

" _Hh hh hh hh…_ "

Finally, someone to fight! Hopefully Minato would be less angry when they were done. Musubi lurched to her left, but even with the new light couldn't see Hametsu. She heard Namiji's halberd scrape against the ground, and a quick glance to her right told Musubi that Minato was in good hands. Well, maybe not the best hands, since Kazehana wasn't a fist-type, but still.

"What the-?" Namiji called attention away from Musubi, to the all-encompassing dead-end, one that had quite literally sprung up from nowhere behind them. Where before the tunnel had continued to extend onwards for who even knew how long, it was as if some speed-demon had bricked up the whole thing. Musubi remained on-guard while Namiji gave it a tap with the bottom of her halberd. It didn't budge, or even crack, but there was something about the sound… It didn't sound right, not to Musubi.

"What do we do about this?" asked Seventy-Three.

Kazehana was silently focused on the top, and after a quick check forward, Musubi turned her head up as well. She could see a spider-web of cracks where pieces of brick had fallen out of the ceiling, and they led back to the side where Musubi stood, and from there snaked down to where Musubi had punched-

 _Oh_ , Musubi thought. _But how was I supposed to know the glass would do that?_

"Could you slice through it?" Takano must've been talking to Namiji, about the instant-wall. "You know, cleanly?"

"I could try."

" _But what of the things lurking beyond?_ " echoed a hungry-sounding rasp.

Suddenly, two humanoid hands came oozing out of the impossible wall, grabbing Namiji's halberd and wrestling her for control of it. She squealed in fright and immediately began lashing out with her boot, splashing her foot through the wall like it were water and sending ripples throughout. Her foot was definitely connecting with something, since she never lost her balance nor fully extended her leg.

The hands' grip remained ironclad, until Musubi ran over and joined in. Suddenly the two girls found themselves onto their behinds, the phantom wall before them fading away, leaving only the inky black void of the tunnel behind.

" _Pleeeease_ ," came that same voice, its volume full but distant, like it was circling them like… Like a seagull circled trash at the beach. " _Do come in._ "

No one said anything at first, and even Musubi felt her knees knocking for some reason. She knew she wasn't afraid, or nervous, and it was too warm down here to be cold, so what was wrong with her?

It was in that moment that she heard Minato mutter, "If you don't like the rules…"

Another moment followed, and then Musubi felt his hand take her own.

"Let's try this hole you made and see where it leads."

"You really want to try some random hole in the wall?" Takano inquired.

"You really wanna find out what's down _there?_ " Kazehana countered, pointing to where Hametsu's creepily breathy chuckle still lingered. Takano must've had trouble seeing Kazehana's hand, because Namiji placed her hands about his jaw and gently swiveled his head.

"Whatever," Takano shrugged, taking Namiji's hands and leading her on.

For her part, Musubi was glad no one was mad anymore.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sparks flashed as Hibiki's lightning shattered the wall of ice that confined her. Just in time, too, because the pole that swung down might've caved in her skull, had it connected.

Two-on-three was no joke, especially when one of them was the Discarded Number. The twins held the advantage in reach, with no weapons to handicap them, but the ice-wielder forced them to divide their attention. Hikari was on the ropes about a dozen meters away, trading her flashier bolts with Nanami's acoustical power while trying to avoid a rain of stalactites, each as long as Hibiki's leg. There wasn't much time to spectate, because Number 103 was nothing if not relentless.

"Had enough? _Huh!_ " Juusa's thrust was side-stepped. Hibiki tried to grab the tip but Juusa hit her in the ribs. "I sure haven't."

Twelve coughed harshly and skipped back a few steps, peppering the ground around Juusa with pink lightning bullets. She took the bait and leapt in the air over Hibiki, twisting her body as she went, but Hibiki dropped to a knee and shot a lightning bolt at her as she landed.

Juusa's knees appeared to give out as her legs went numb, her iron pole slamming into the floor to ground some of the lightning. Hibiki didn't press forward, not until she could see Akitsu again.

The Lightning Twin circled left and thus saw Akitsu's frozen daggers flying at her from the corner of her eye. She kicked out with her heel and sent herself tumbling away, the crackle of her counter-shot snaking through the air. A ramshackle barrier of ice shot up from the floor, exploding into mist as the lightning collided with it. Regaining her footing, Hibiki squared off against Akitsu, the two separated by several meters of space.

"Thanks, Akitsu," Juusa called, climbing to her feet, her legs straightening out. Hibiki knew what it felt like when her hand fell asleep, and she imagined a similar feeling now filled Juusa's lower half. No thanks to that.

The twin risked a glance at her sister. Further away than before, Hikari's left arm was hanging limp by her side with a nasty gash near the shoulder; another, smaller cut bled on her cheek. With her free hand, she was able to score a direct hit on Nanami's tuning-spear, followed by the rest of her. The feedback sent Nanami sprawling, and Hikari started charging up for another blast.

"Hikari, watch it!"

Her sister heeded her words, and muttered a curse as Akitsu summoned more ice. A blizzard of deadly shards drove Hikari back, Akitsu annoyingly good at covering her teammates.

 _Dammit. If only Snow Queen wasn't here_ , thought Hibiki. On the other hand, she was glad Akitsu had stuck to support thus far.

A breather gained, the Raiden Duo decided to regroup near their Ashikabi, loitering against the tunnel wall.

"Looks tender," Seo remarked, pushing off and wiping away the red on Hikari's cheek.

"I'm fine," Number 11 grunted. Her attempt to shoo him away amounted to little more than a shrug, her arm still out of commission. Hibiki watched as Seo slid a hand over her numb shoulder.

"Wanna be better?"

Hikari's cheeks heating up; there was no mistaking that color. And that soft, whispering sound coupled with his deep, masculine voice…

Wait, no, he meant the norito. Hikari didn't protest as Seo put his lips to hers. Hikari let loose a soft moan, her back arching, her purple wings unfolding from her crest.

Hibiki let loose a much louder noise in a wide-spread, crackling net of electricity, forcing the three enemy Sekirei to scatter before they could launch an attack. Her sister appearing at her side, ready to trade off, Hibiki about-faced and ran smack into Seo's chest. She only had to look up before he kissed her, Hibiki raising a leg to caress his outer-knee. If he wasn't so hell-bent on making an ass of himself all the time, or groping her sister's melons, Hibiki and he could do this more often.

Now it was Hibiki's turn to moan, much more loudly than her sister, as she felt her body renew itself and the energies of her norito whirl to life.

"Look out!"

Of all the people the twins would expect a warning from, Nanami was… Not _completely_ out of the question, as she seemed reluctant to fight despite being quite capable.

The third party was hard to spot at first, in part for their colors. They wore nothing but black, ragged robes that looked like they'd survived a mauling from a tiger. They adorned the specter's head like a tight-fitting hood, hiding their face. Those looking wondered why this interloper would bother with such attire, since their face would be hard to make out in such dismal darkness.

Number 12 could see the cause, squinting her eyes: the shrouded Sekirei had a stray lock of silver peeking out from the lip of his cloak. Could it…

No. Wait a sec… No, it wasn't him. Too short, for one thing. The sleeves were too ragged, the cause unlike any weapon she'd seen, unless this Sekirei had somehow gotten to Haihane and escaped, all while avoiding the six of them. The pants weren't form-fitting, or at least, Hibiki didn't think they were. It was faint, but thanks to the echo-happy walls around them, Hibiki could make out the ruffle of pants flopping against his legs.

Most telling of all, he would've lit this tunnel up like the last Saturday of July.

"You."

The Raiden Twins had had ice, iron and sound thrown at them by these three. The Scrap Number's slight shift in tone, from deadpan to utterly, gut-spewingly hateful, had to take the cake, and that cake was made of fear.

The shrouded Sekirei stopped their approach at this, at which Hibiki fired a bolt their way. It snapped down two meters short, as she'd intended, but this third party darted back anyway. In the brief instance she was able to get a good look, she noted that their hands had been clenched, with black, nebulous energy floating around them, like a black star waiting to be born.

The Raiden Twin glanced back at her three foes. Akitsu was still neutral, despite the venom she'd shown. Juusa, Number 103, was about 40% naked from the burn-holes that dotted her sleeveless kimono and skirt, but seemed more pissed at the newcomer than the one who'd ruined her outfit. Even Nanami, the most timid of the three, hate a little more fire in her eyes while staring at this person, and the glint didn't come from Hibiki's makeshift hand-lamp.

"You want them?" Hibiki told the trio, pointing at Black-Clad. "You can have them."

None of them moved, none of them attacked. Juusa's staff scraped against the ground as she lowered it down, diagonally across her chest, but Hibiki couldn't see her eyes.

Number 12 slid her foot back, then the other, before pivoting on her heels and starting to walk. The light around her hand extinguished, her back and crest completely exposed to her attackers. The only way to see clearly now was the luminescence cast by her sister's gloved hand, still extended towards her four foes.

"You coming, Hikari?"

Her sister stilled herself, then also lowered her hand. She never took her eyes off of any of them, not the newbie nor Mikogami's goon squad. But she slowly backed off, inching her way towards their Ashikabi, before likewise extinguishing her light.

Feet sprinted, and Hibiki whirled around.

Her fist clenched, her power already returning.

But they weren't coming for her, or Hikari.

"Get back here!" they heard Juusa bark. Then, to her two teammates, "Break his legs!"

' _His' legs?_ Well, that about confirmed Hibiki's suspicion. If this man was so dangerous that even enemies deserved a warning about him, Mikogami's flock had every reason to want him gone. Still, what happened between them? Broken legs were not, by and large, part of the game.

"Welp," Seo grunted, stepping off the wall, "let's find a way out of here."

The Raiden Twin felt his hand slip around her shoulders, and leaned slightly into him. "Know who he was?"

"Don't know the smell," Seo replied. "Then again, don't know every Sekirei, either. Might've been one of the last releases."

Seo then screamed through chattering teeth, lighting up like an exploding powerline.

"Hands to yourself," Hikari angrily muttered.

"Why can't you be like you are at home?" Seo groaned.

 _Why aren't you as grabby with me,_ Hibiki pondered, not that she wanted him to be, of course. Not even a little.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The green light was revealed to be the product of low-level glow-lamps. They were open-topped, and upon touching a few, Musubi discovered that they were all vibrating slightly.

"What are these things?" Her question was shared by the group.

Reaching up, and dipping a finger in, Kazehana was able to get a scent from the liquid.

"Is it warm in here," she asked the group, smiling a little at what she saw, "or is it just me?"

"I think you mean 'hot', Kazehana," Minato suggested, wiping the perspiration from his brow.

"Oh, but that's beneath me, Mina-kun." Just like he would be, the next time she had him alone.

"I feel a little hot," Musubi said, itching at the collar of her white gi, which now appeared as green as the walls. "I miss the outside."

"Then think I might know," Kazehana continued, walking on. The rest of the group followed suit. "This algae that grows in warm ponds. When something stirs up the water, the algae glows."

"Pretty expensive way to light a tunnel," Takano remarked.

"I don't know," Namiji chimed in. "Smaller electric bill? No need to change any light bulbs?"

"But why bio-luminescence?" Minato pondered.

"Yeah, why?" Musubi echoed, sounding less "informed" and more "don't leave me out, please". No one could blame her. "Things in tanks have to be fed."

"Not a lot," Kazehana informed her. "Besides, he wouldn't have to keep them here for long, just send someone down to fill the tanks before the match."

"Huh," Minato exhaled. "I didn't think of that. Pretty smart, Kazehana."

"Time with Matsu'll do that to a lady," she smirked, "among other things."

Minato swallowed. Just a few thoughts about those "other things" made his cheeks heat up and go brown in this green light.

Having deciphered the mystery, the quintet walked on. Musubi and Kazehana quickly reattached themselves to their Ashikabi, but Eighty-Eight just as quickly let him go. Her gaze drifted down to sullenly stare at her feet; harsh words weren't easily forgotten.

The five found footsteps hardly as comforting as conversation. In a way, it was almost worse, knowing that the sound spiraled down this brickwork shaft as it did, and no words to divert from that fact. Kazehana's battle experience told her that this could be used against them, alerting anything ahead that might lie in wait. How they would hide in such a narrow passage was beyond her, but still…

As Musubi itched at herself between her shoulders, Kazehana's thoughts continued to wander, though she knew she shouldn't let them. Imaginations often ran wild on empty darkness. They created impossible specters, beings that could move unheard without needing footsteps, pass through walls like ghosts, lurking around every corner even if it was simply the hairline chasm between bricks. The Wind Sekirei knew this, and willed herself to not let it happen to her; as the onee-san, she had to stand firm, be strong.

How could she, though, when in her heart of hearts, she knew Hametsu was down here? The shadows were his playground, and it was she, an outsider, who tread the mouth of the dragon's lair. Small comfort was the green light. After all, it would do little more than illuminate the full horror of whatever was stalking them, that thing which cloaked its presence in the echoes of their footfalls. Not because it needed to, of course, but so the thrill of the hunt might be whipped further into a slavering hunger, drooling from between its fangs as it closed in on the snacks of squishy meat. It could move as they moved, beat-for-beat. Even an impromptu song-and-dance would only serve as a minor hiccup, nothing more. Of course, should they happen to sing something it liked…

Kazehana held her husband a little closer. Between the acoustics and the eerie light, this place was getting to her.

 _Just the place, Number Three?_

Kazehana squeaked in fright. Instantly, Minato had her by the shoulders, gently urging her forward. "What's the matter?"

"I thought…" Kazehana's voice caught in her throat as behind him, Minato's shadow did a little wave at her.

"Thought what?" he asked.

Don't bother, his shadow… Said? Thought, as it folded its arms? As you can see, I'm being ignored.

Minato's expression hardened. " _Where is he?_ "

Kazehana's arms flew around his neck, and her body shivered as she pressed itself to him. Her eyes were screwed shut; if that thing didn't want attention, she sure as hell wouldn't give it to him. She felt Minato's hands grip her shoulder blades and lift her off the floor, resuming his stride like nothing had happened. The back of Musubi's glove was pressed against the side of The Wind Sekirei's breast; all was now a feeling of sensations, and the one that was fear still lingered.

"Hey," Takano sniped, annoyed, "can we save the affection until after we get out of this freakin' shaft?"

There was a pause as Kazehana felt her husband's head shift. After that, Takano spoke again, audibly rattled.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Sheesh…"

"Kazehana." This was Musubi speaking now, so close that the wind of her words was gently scattering against Number Three's face. "If Hametsu wanted to hurt us, he would."

The self-designated onee-san opened her garnet orbs to the sight of Musubi's face, so close they could almost touch noses, the girl itching the back of her brown hair as Minato continued on.

"It'll be fine," said the bubbly brunette, beaming at Kazehana as a gloved hand cupped her older sister's jawline. "We're here for each other, and we have Minato with us."

The ravenette sighed, forcing a smile on her lips. "Indeed, Mu-chan."

The brunette cocked her head to the side. "Are you joining the Discipline Squad after this?"

Hopping off of Minato, Kazehana frowned at her younger counterpart. "Why?"

"Well," Musubi explained, "Karasuba's the only other person who calls me that, and she's the head of the Discipline Squad, so since you're both single numbers, I thought you'd make a great team!"

Boy did _that_ bring back memories, and help flush out her skin-crawling dread.

"Yeah," softly laughed the Wind Sekirei, "like oil and water."

"Wait, so you're not?"

Kazehana just chuckled again. It was at that point, looking at Minato, and recalling that hard, macho glare he'd shown her, demanding to know where and who to point it at, that Ms. Public Obscenity began to (as she often did when around her husband) feel a little bit…

"This place gives me the creeps," Takano muttered.

Minato pursed his lips. "Me too. _Mhmph!_ " His mouth was suddenly being smothered.

Kazehana flashed a wry smile. "You're saying that now? I was getting spooked the moment we got off the train." She looked down at her husband's face, which was nose-deep in her left tit. "You're welcome, by the way."

"For what?" inquired Musubi, having gotten over her scolding, once again holding Minato's hand.

The buxom woman gave a little close-mouthed 'hmph', making her mammary jiggle around her Ashikabi. "You forgot already?" she moped. "I was the gal who made our landing a little more..."

Ten fingers pushed Minato's head further into her chest, their owner smiling again.

"- _soft_ ," she whispered.

"Oh, right!" Musubi released Minato's flailing hand and bowed to her big sister Sekirei. "Thank you."

Kazehana gave her a nod, then looked down at her trapped hubby. "Mina-kun?"

By the way his fingers were twitching, Minato was trying reeeeally hard not find something to brace himself against. He knew that thing would have to be Kazehana, and he also knew she could catch his hand with her Sekirei reflexes. That in mind, he also knew where that hand would go: someplace that would only rile her up more.

"Ph-hm," he said, muffled as he was.

Kazehana drew him in more. "Say it again," she purred.

"Ph… Kh-hnh!"

"Mmmh, I love it when you talk dirty to me," she breathed, her arms circling his head like boa constrictors. Now he was trying to pry himself loose, desperation and lack of air making him forget his own advice.

"Minato?" Musubi peered at him, hands leaning on her knees. "Are you alright?"

"Mph!" His eyes were getting wider, and Kazehana was getting more turned-on. Unbeknownst to him, all she wanted was one little squeeze.

Nearby, Takano was staring at them. "What do I even feel right now? What is this?"

"I'd say," Namiji commented, "you're turned-on, confused, feeling weird, and a little jealous." Then she playfully booped him on the noggin. "Cheater."

He finally snapped his eyes away. "Not cheating if I don't touch."

Minato's own eyes were starting to roll back, and his feet had stopped walking. He always imagined dying like this would be more pleasant.

"Secret Technique," Musubi proclaimed, crouched behind Kazehana. "One Thousand Years of _Death!_ "

Then, Kazehana's behind got a proclamation of its own.

The Wind Sekirei squawked and shot straight into the air. If not for Minato, sensing her distress with what sparks of power remained in his brain, she might've hit her head on the three-meter-high ceiling. Instead, he caught her by the waist, and yanked her back down to Earth, barely overpowering her Sekirei-level hop.

Upon crash-landing, she lost her balance (thanks to her high heels), and fell over backwards, getting a perfectly semi-wanted view up Musubi's skirt. The fist-type still had her hands clasped, index fingers point out.

"What was that?" Number 3 demanded, seesawing between laughter and anger.

"One Thousand Years of Death," Musubi reminded her, stowing her outstretched fingers. "Uzume told me about it. She said it's a secret move of the ninja."

"Oh, it's a move, alright," Kazehana commented, smirking. "You should try it on Tsukiumi some time."

Minato's voice almost broke, it was so high-pitched. "Anyone but Tsukiumi! _Not Tsukiumi!_ "

His outburst made Kazehana realize that Minato hadn't fallen on top of her. She looked down at herself, and found him, gasping for air and on all fours above her body. "Comfy, Mina-kun?"

"I almost died…" he huffed. "But aside from that, yeah, I guess."

"Well, what's a girl have to do when she wants her man's hands on her?" she asked disappointedly, as Minato helped her to her feet. "Anyway, thanks for-"

She stopped as Minato lifted a finger in front of her, so close it was almost touching her lips. "Thank me later," he said, before leaning in close to quietly add, "when we're alone."

Kazehana's hand clamped down on his upper arm. She could feel that red blood pumping, and the muscle it powered having gotten bigger since they last made love. She wanted to ravage him right now, if for no other reason than for making her wait. She'd married a sadist, it seemed, which she murmured out loud.

Takano shook his head. "You people need an exorcist, or something."

"Why?" Musubi looked at him. "Are we possessed?"

There it came again, from behind: Hametsu's chuckle.

Minato whirled around. "Oh, _piss off!_ "

" _Whaaat?_ " it called back cajolingly. " _Is this a private party or can anyone play?_ "

" _It is when_ _ **you're**_ _here!_ " Minato hollered back. It was then that the other three remembered Musubi's insight to their stalker, and just like that, any fear that remained evaporated.

" _My my, aren't we... Oooh, forget it…_ "

That tone of day-ruined, buzz-killed disappointment was music to Kazehana's ears.

"Now," she cooed, pulling her husband against her, hands sliding up about his hair, "where were we?"

"In a tunnel," Musubi replied, taking his other side in her arms. "Come on, Kazehana, you knew that!"

"Not for long," Namiji announced, pointing ahead. The narrow shaft ended, and became a much larger channel, easily thrice as wide as the shaft and with a four-way intersection every fifteen meters.

"Aw, do we have to keep walking?" Musubi protested. "My feet are sore."

"You're just imagining it," Namiji said, looking over her shoulder. "Just find a way to take your mind off it!"

"Wha-!" Musubi suddenly found herself swept off her feet as Minato's arm took her legs out beneath her, scooping her up bridal-style.

"Better, Musubi?" he asked, a little raggedly, managing to keep his balance as he stepped off the ledge.

The girl's eyes were wide as they stared into her Ashikabi's. This feeling she had… It was similar to the one that had happened when they first kissed, and her wings unfolded. She felt herself relaxing in Minato's arms, even as her own limbs circled his head and pulled herself a little higher on him.

"I… I think so," she breathed.

"Hmph," Kazehana huffed, crossing her arms. "Now I know how Ms. Panty Flash feels."

"Wait a sec." Takano, who'd been patiently waiting with his back turned, now faced the trio. "How many Sekirei do you have?"

"Uh… Four," he replied. At least, "four" until Musubi ratted him out.

This new area reminded Minato of a giant hair comb. There were... Well, not "passages", exactly, because the long stretches of stonework on either side, occuring regularly for as far as he could see. The ones to his immediate sides ended dead no more than twenty meters apart. Actually, combined with the large channel that unfolded ahead of them, this new network reminded him of a spine anchoring a ribcage.

Regardless, more walking was in order.

Another good ten minutes rolled by, thankfully in more light cast by the algae-water, which sat in a shallow trench running along the center of the "spine". The dead-ends proved to be psychological, as stopping to check each and every one might've fostered negligence by the end. But, with Hametsu still running loose down here, caution was their friend.

Minaka's mad architecture was all about, in featureless rooms and more single-stretch dead-ends.

"Hello-oooo!" Musubi called, poking her head into one such chamber. When no response came, even though there was plenty of dim green light to see in, she called again. After the same result, she trotted back to the group, standing ten meters away. "This one's empty, too."

"What are you expecting to find, anyway?" asked Takano, skeptically crossing his arms.

Musubi beamed at him. "Just Hametsu."

And that was the end of that discussion. Although, Kazehana suspected Eighty-Eight was just bored again.

" _Work all night, ahn a drink-a_ _ **rum!**_ "

The two Ashikabi collectively sighed, their Sekirei on them like magnets. All except Musubi, who was raring to go again.

" _Daylight cohm, an' me wang-go home._ " That… was a quartet singing.

"Just don't dance to it," Takano grumbled.

"Dance to what?" the brunette asked.

" _Stock ba-na-na 'til dee mo-ning cohm!_ "

"Daylight cohm, an' me wang-go home," sang a very real, very deep, very unfamiliar voice. "Cohm, Meesta Tally-man, tally me bana-na..."

The speaker was up ahead, round the next corner. Musubi could hear his footsteps, in beat with his song. Finally, after weeks of playing hide-and-seek they could fight! She darted over to the corner, grabbed the first limb that flailed past the edge, and pulled its buzzed-blonde owner into view.

"Not now, Musubi," Kagedansu said, waving her off, "I'm lettin' the music take me. _-seven foot, eight-foot_ _ **bunch!**_ "

"Oh," she chirped, releasing his wrist as he continued his take on the Undead Cha-Cha. "Okay!"

"No, don't!" Minato called desperately. "Hametsu's doing it!"

"Doing what?" Kagedansu asked.

"Making the music!"

"What music?"

Minato looked ready to pull his hair out. " _The music you're dancing to!_ "

"What _is_ dancing, though?"

Takano, at that point, looked like the clock in his head just broke. "I have so many questions."

The large blonde dude stopped once again, just long enough to spout, "What _are_ questions, anyway?"

Minato huffed humorously, frustratedly. "Well, that just- _Musubi!_ "

His white clad Sekirei was in the process of turning Kagedansu's rather eery dance into a conga line, mimicking his movements almost as well as Sixty-Seven's literal shadow.

The girl giggled, churning her fists like a lurchy locomotive piston. "This is fun!"

"Musubi, get back here!" Minato hollered.

"But I wanna dance!"

No one saw it but Kazehana: Minato's retort interrupted by a translucent light bulb appearing over his head.

"We'll do that later," he offered politely, "but don't you want to get out of these tunnels?"

"After I dance some more."

Kazehana was then by her side, and took Musubi by the hand. "You can dance all you want back at Miya's."

"That seems fair," the brunette conceded, allowing Three to lead her back to the corner, where Minato now stood.

"Oh, yeah, be careful down there!" Kagedansu's voice echoed from down the passage. "105's lurkin', like some... f-, freakin' _lurker!_ ... DAAAAAAY-O!"

Takano eyed Minato like one would eye a person who loudly declared themselves to be an eater of small reptiles. "You people _really_ need an exorcist."

"Oh, they're not that weird!" Namiji chirped, jumping on Takano's back; her halberd functioned like a walking stick, supporting the sudden change in weight for him. "You wear a hood down here in the dark, after all, so what's so weird about a little dancing?"

Kazehana was ashamed to admit it, but it was enormously satisfying to see the hoodie put in his angst-filled place, if his disgruntled expression was any indication. Her eyelids dipped, and she indicated something of her own, pressing her firm buttock against her husband's right hip.

"By the way, Minato..." she cooed.

He looked at her. "Kazehana?"

She felt every strand of hair against the sides of her fingers, as she slid them through the locks on the sides of his head. His lips, a little chapped and a little tender from nervous biting, brushed against her own, and though they'd been together for over a month now (a long time, she thought, for a happy Sekirei), he was still adorably slow on the uptake. Soon, her tongue slid between those lips of his and began to wrestle with his own. Her body pressed itself against his, so enticingly lean and wiry; she knew how to get his blood pumping. Oh, how she wished he would cross his arms behind her back, and crush her against him, but after her erotic overload earlier, a display that had surprised even her, when she thought back to it...

Her breath stilled sharply, followed by a low, reflexive moan. For a possessive, hip-to-hip, hand-to-buttick hold was exactly what he gave her.

Their lips made a small smacking sound as they parted. "What's was that for?" he asked.

She stroked his hair, looking deep into his grey eyes. "No particular reason," she murmured softly.

He raised an eyebrow at that. "So, you're not worried about the Discipline Squad?"

She smirked, laying her arms about his shoulders. "Well, now that you mention it..."

They both decided a second lip-lock was in order, pink light of wings clashing with the green of the cavernous chamber. Soon, a third light mixed, as Takano and Namiji began a pre-battle display of their own.

* * *

 **Author's plug:**

There's another fic in the Sekirei section that you may have seen, called "Sekirei: Steel of the Bond". Now, given that it has about 3 times as many follows and favorites as _this_ story, chances are a good number of you already read it. But, for those that haven't, it's a MinatoxLarge Harem story, and I say "Large" because as of its seventh (and most current) chapter, he's winged 5 Sekirei, only 1 of whom is part of his canon flock. Given that you've made it this far in my story, I assume you're the sort who like stories where Minato remains the same wishy-washy stickbug that he was in the canon, albeit with a little more red in his blood. Well, that's something "Steel" upholds rather well.

I'll confess it's another fic I beta-read for (starting at Ch. 7), which is part of why I'm plugging it now. Icee Ultra, the author, said he's almost ready to come back now that real life is about to stop interfering. I'm excited to continue work on Chapter 8, and I'm sure you'll be excited to see it. So head on over and check it out.

Oh, and Happy Rusev Day.


	61. Live to Fly Another Day

**Author's response** :

To those who read my work, I thank you.

To those who read _and_ review my work, I thank you and _PLEEEASE_ don't stop reviewing! It's hard to write when all the time and effort I put into these chapters amounts to no more than the silent treatment.

To those who clearly _don't_ read my work but feel like they can "review" it anyway, by all means, keep it up. The hate stands to remind me that the compliments I get from my readers is genuine.

* * *

 **Live to Fly Another Day**

Kazehana had backed up against the wall, pressing her hips against Minato and grinding against his pants. Though they were cast into Minato's mouth her moans echoed through the tunnels, but she was long past caring who heard them. Similarly, her wings were long past faded, this lip-lock no longer about powering up. Even so, she could feel Minato's power rising, plus a few other things.

On Minato's side, he was pressing himself harder against his woman, sandwiching her between himself and the wall. His hands moved of their own, sliding and squeezing every part of his Sekirei. That is, except her breasts. His hands would always stop just below those two heavy sacks of softness, a stroke of his thumb all he allowed. Each time he did, she'd squeal a little and push herself against him more, flattening out her chest, _begging_ to be touched.

Minato broke the kiss, now drunk on a flood of masculine dominance, and leaned close to seductively murmur, "Not this time, Kazehana."

Her eyes were closed; his thumb-knuckles were dragging along the underside of her breasts, along the fabric of her dress, inching closer to the triangular opening at her cleavage, where her skin tingled with anticipation. Those hard knobs of bone pushed deeper into her milk-filled melons, slowly turning sideways, one by one his other four knuckles massaging her girls. Her head rested on his shoulder; she knew he could hear her heated breath, rapidly picking up, urging him on in this place where no one would judge, no one would stop him as his hands were open and just about ready to pounce all over her.

Then she felt him draw away; The Wind Sekirei whimpered a soft "Nooo..."

But her husband was set on tantalizing her yet again, as he gave each of her two hardened nubs a soft flick. "I'll make time," he murmured. "I promise."

The Wind Sekirei was at a crossroads: either kiss him again, get her wings out of the way, then drag him to some alcove down here and have her way with him...

Or let Musubi steal him away as the younger Sekirei frames his face between her gloves and gently kisses him. Darn...

Musubi's head darted back, her brown eyes wide. They grew even wider, an ecstatic smile forming ear-to-ear.

"Let's go, Minato!"

"Go whe- _EEERE!_ "

He was now horizontal, flailing behind Musubi as she dragged him through the air like a kite. His feet pinched together to keep his shoes from flying off; at this speed, it'd be like tossing a ragdoll into the wind. _From an_ _ **airliner!**_

He could feel his breakfast being shaken up his esophagus, and quickly slammed his free hand over his mouth

A purple shape bounced up alongside them. "Going somewhere, Musubi?" Kazehana called.

"That pink-haired girl!" 88 exclaimed. "I heard her somewhere ahead! She's close!"

"Of course she is," Kazehana smiled, arms pumping as her winds gave her a little boost. "Think we should wait for Namiji?"

"Nah, she's fine," Musubi replied, waving a hand dismissively. "We can take turns. There's three of us, remember?"

"True, true." The Wind Sekirei then looked to her bedraggled husband. "Enjoying the ride, Mina-kun?"

Minato opened his mouth but the only things that came out were screams.

Screams that were brought to an abrupt halt as he crashed head-first into Musubi, who stood ramrod-straight at a T-shaped intersection.

"Was it left or right..." mused Musubi, as a half-conscious Minato slid down her backside. If there was any consolation to his broken state, it was the feeling of Musubi's soft, skirt-draped bubble-butt against his face.

"We could always split up, Mu-chan," suggested Number 3, gesturing to each of the paths.

Musubi giggled. "You're just saying that because you want to kiss Minato some more."

The ghost hovering over Minato's head, its tail trailing out of his mouth, was brought back in as Musubi lifted him up and dusted him off.

"Just remember, Kazehana," Musubi chirped warningly, pushing him towards her, "you can't fight while you're kissing!"

The raven-haired woman smirked as she caught her stumbling husband by the arm, her eyes slowly drifting from her sister to her Ashikabi.

"Oh, darn..." she sighed, dragging her fingertips across his cheek. "What _ever_ will I do?"

"How about 'drop dead'?"

Both Sekirei's eyes hardened and locked on to the pink sphere hurtling towards them. Kazehana was the first to move, hugging Minato close and spinning towards the wall. Her own body became a shield, or would have, if Minato hadn't counter-spun her against the stone so _he_ was in the way of the sphere's detonation.

"A-agh!" The pain was strange but no less excruciating, setting the nerves in his back on fire as the shockwave shocked his diaphragm into stillness.

" _Minato!"_ both Sekirei cried at once, Musubi rushing over as he collapsed, arching his body in pain.

Their attacker emerged from a small door down the corridor: same pink hair, same horrible attitude.

"That's what you get, you dumb bastard," Benitsubasa sneered, leering at her victim. She thrust a finger at him. "Don't even _think_ about passing out. I want you to see every second of what I'm gonna do to 88."

Musubi leapt to her feet, pumping her fists. "Alright, let's go!"

The two fist-types charged at each other and right away scored shots to the cheek. Musubi reeled, rubbing her face, and Benitsubasa capitalized with a series of quick jabs.

"You don't know how _long_ I've been waiting for this!" A thunderous uppercut sent Musubi flying back, crash-landing hard on her shoulders.

"Me too, me too!" she squeaked, handspringing to her feet. "You're so strong! I promise, I won't lose this time!"

"Yeah?" sneered Benitsubasa, beckoning her rival. "Let's see you try and keep that promise."

"Al-right!"

Eighty-Eight charged, swung, missed, and swung again. Benitsubasa caught the second swing in her hands, and Musubi was sent flying through the air to crash against the wall. Picking herself up, she yelped in surprise when a red-gloved fist came within centimeters of smashing her face.

Sliding sideways, Musubi suddenly found herself without a wall behind her. She tumbled through the opening, doing a backwards somersault to her feet. Just in time to intercept a stiff shot with her hands.

"Something wrong, you big-breasted bimbo?" The Red Sekirei's hook caught Musubi under the arm, just behind her breast. "Where'd all that confidence go?"

"Nowhere!" As Benitsubasa drew back for another, Musubi leaned back and kicked her foe in the side of the head.

"Ow- _ooooah_!" Now it was 105's turn to fly, to the back of this square-shaped chamber they'd found themselves in. Musubi had the strangest case of... Whatever that French stuff was that always felt familiar. Doujin mustard?

Whatever it was, it was fresh on Musubi's mind as she missed Benitsubasa's head and instead cracked the wall.

"Oh no you don't!" Musubi's hand like a claw, she hooked The Red Sekirei's head and pushed her back into position. "You're not leading _me_ away!"

Benitsubasa grinned at that, before hooking Musubi's arm and reversing her into the bricks.

"Fine by me."

Musubi swung with a haymaker but missed, getting five fast jabs to the gut for her troubles. Her knee came up but Benitsubasa blocked it, backhanding Musubi in the chest, then the face.

"Ever tasted teeth?" Benitsubasa asked, clamping a hand around Musubi's throat and drawing back.

"N-No," Musubi sputtered, slamming her hands together, with Benitsubasa's elbow in the middle. The Discipline Squad member screamed and bounded away, clutching her joint.

"That's gonna cost you, Eighty-Eight," she snarled.

Musubi put up her dukes. "Too bad for you, because I don't even _have_ my MBI card!"

" _HOW THE HELL DID I LOSE TO YOU?!_ "

Eighty-Eight ducked a furious one-two jab combo, then answered with an uppercut.

"You don't have enough love in your heart," Musubi added, standing over the sprawled-out Benitsubasa. She clasped her hands together and dipped her head, feeling the tingle in her chest that signaled her bond with Minato. "As a Sekirei, if you love your Ashikabi as much as I do, then we should be evenly matched. Last time I had to protect someone, but now that I know he's safe, I can fight you with my full potential. Love is-"

Musubi's speech was interrupted by a fist busting her forehead open, blood leaking from the gash.

"Shows what _you_ know," snarled Benitsubasa.

From outside, Minato and Kazehana looked on, the latter pushing her cheek against the former's and softly humming with affection.

"Not worried?" Minato asked, nervously eyeing Musubi as she ate another knuckle sandwich.

"If Musubi wants help," Kazehana breathed, "she'll let me know."

"You sure about that?"

Kazehana's head drifted from Minato's cheek down to his shoulder. "Why do you think I'm watching her instead of you, Mina-kun?"

… _That makes sense_ , Minato thought.

Musubi by now recovered enough to swing back, her haymaker ducked ( _again_ ) and countered with a shot to the abdomen. Musubi drifted back to lessen the blow, then swung around low with her leg. Benitsubasa hadn't expected this, and had over-extended her reach. She crashed to the ground, spring-boarding back up in short order to catch another blow with her face. Growling, the speed and ferocity of her blows began to increase, her arms beginning to blur in the eyes of Minato. Musubi was likewise picking up speed, her torso bobbing and weaving like an out-of-control carnival ride.

"Impressive."

The suddenness of the comment made Minato start a little. Looking to his right, Kazehana leaning out to glance alongside him, the two were greeted by the sight of a third, greyish-brown-haired gentleman.

"Oh, hello there," he said, offering them a smile that was about as empty as anyone's could be, save perhaps The Black Sekirei's. "I take it _you're_ Eighty-Eight's master?"

Something about that question ruffled Minato's feathers. "I'm her Ashikabi, yeah."

"I see," the man nodded. "Then you are, in fact, Sahashi Minato."

"What if I am? Wait, how would _you_ know?"

"By reputation, primarily." The man looked back to the fight, where Musubi had just slapped Benitsubasa in the ribs, knocking the wind out of her. "My name is Natsuo. I'm the Discipline Squad's Ashikabi."

"All three of them?" On his side, he felt Kazehana's grip grow tighter on him. "How?"

"The same way you winged your feathers, I presume." Natsuo chuckled. "They really aren't that difficult, if one knows how to handle them. Oh dear."

" **Bear…** " A swirling vortex gathered around Musubi's hand. " _ **Fist!**_ "

Kazehana reacted before Minato could, pulling him away as the wall around the small chamber cracked under Musubi's Bear Fist attack. Minato blinked, having completely forgotten what kind of terrifying power his Sekirei wielded, because that had been a _glancing_ blow.

Benitsubasa snagged Musubi's flailing hand. "Last chance you'll ever get, boobsy!"

The two began to trade blows, standing their ground, Musubi unable to land a hit on the much smaller and more agile pinkette. She had her cute little face battered, spitting blood with each head-twisting blow, the gash on her forehead blinding her in one eye.

"Kazehana-!"

Minato didn't even have to finish. His wife was already sprinting to the rescue. A cannonball of air slammed into Benitsubasa's side, sending crashing back against the far wall.

"Kazeha-naaa!" Musubi whined, her mouth twitching from her broken lip. "I had her right where I wanted her!"

"I know," said Kazehana. Extending a hand, she realized the airflow would be limited by the small entrance way. "But from where I stood, she had _you,_ Mu-chan."

"Couldn't you have moved somewhere else, then?"

The Wind Sekirei frowned at that. "What?"

"Well, you said from where you stood, so-"

" _Gotcha, bitch!_ "

An electronic beep sounded, and with nary a split second's window, a massive steel plug slammed down on the only exit, plunging the room into darkness. A pink light shone from Benitsubasa's hand, revealing some sort of remote control.

"Now then..." Her strength reduced it to a crumbling cascade, a psychotic leer filling her eyes. "I've been waiting for this ever since the bridge fiasco."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _Musubi! Kazehana!"_

Minato's fist pounded on the metal, the rational part of his brain telling him it would only serve to injure himself. He didn't care. He had to do _something!_ There was no controls, no wiring, not even something he could use to wedge the door open. So, he'd _smash_ his way through! He wanted to hurt himself for being so stupid, and this way he could multitask. His schooling taught him that strong air currents needed a lot of room to travel along a vector, and with how low the ceiling was in there, Kazehana couldn't even manage a tornado. She'd be as helpless as he was, and Musubi the only one that could defend her.

 _He_ wanted to do that. _He_ was her valiant knight riding to the rescue, not Musubi!

Minato slumped down, his forehead leaving an oily smear on the steel. _Am I really getting jealous of_ Musubi _right now? Seriously?!_

"Your element-type would be at a disadvantage regardless," stated Natsuo, calmly standing by and watching Minato quietly implode. "They might be powerful, but in terms of physical strength, they're hardly a match for a physical-type."

"I know..." Minato bemoaned. Up on his feet in an instant, he pounded on the door again. "Musubi! If you can hear me, you need to break out of there! Kazehana can't-" He stopped himself, lest he make a bad situation worse. "I want to kiss you both! Let me unlock your whatever-it's-called!"

"Norito," clarified Natsuo. "And you realize, of course, that I may do the same for Benitsubasa, yes?"

"That's not the point."

"Ah. A matter of chivalry, then. I suppose I have nothing to fear."

Minato was baffled. "What, of me?"

Natsuo chuckled. "You have The Wisdom Sekirei at your beck and call, yet you remain ignorant of one of the most critical facets of the Plan." The other Ashikabi walked over, a little _too_ close for Minato's liking. "Tell me: do you know why Karasuba tolerates me while hating other humans?"

The former _ronin_ didn't have an answer for that. To be honest, he didn't even know Karasuba harbored that prejudice, but from what he'd seen and what Musubi had mentioned around the dinner table, this new tidbit fell right into place.

"I see," said Natsuo, when Minato failed to speak up. "Do you know why Sekirei are forbidden to attack Ashikabi?"

That was an easy one: a shake of the head "no".

"It's simple, really. Should an Ashikabi be killed, all Sekirei winged to them will be killed, as well. Stage 5 Termination, the highest possible level."

Minato turned pale blue at that, his blood freezing in his veins. His mind reeled… How many times had he put himself in harm's way to protect them? How often did he disregard their offers of protection to appease his own sad macho postering? Why was he even bothering to train?!

That last one answered itself: to be better.

Still… _Why the_ hell _didn't they tell him this?!_ Suddenly, Musubi and Kazehana freaking out over him taking Benitsubasa's blast made a sickening amount of sense.

"So… Do you want to kill me, Sahashi-san?"

Like a rusty cog in a seized-up machine, Minato's head slowly lurched around to stare at Natsuo. The man's hands were clasped, his face neutral, and his voice showing no signs of insincerity.

"...Why?"

"Why do I ask, or why would you?"

"The-" Minato swallowed. "The second one."

Natsuo shrugged. "It would be the most practical. If I die, the entire Discipline Squad dies with me. You remember what they did to you on the bridge, yes?"

Minato's memory was already conjuring up a host of unwanted recollections, the most vivid and gut-wrenching among them being Musubi's lifeless body, held in his arms as he wailed and begged for her to wake up. Little better was the sight of Kazehana, pinned beneath a heap of steel beams with Haihane standing over her, claws ready to finish the job. Meanwhile, all he could do was sit on his sorry behind and weep.

"To my Sekirei, yeah."

"I see." It was so fast that one might miss it, but for a split second, almost like an aborted blink, Natsuo's eyes narrowed into a look of absolute scorn, before the masque of disinterest reasserted itself. "I suspected as much."

Now it was Minato's turn to look a little peeved, though he made no attempt to hide it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Natsuo smiled slightly, like he was about to school the younger man on the ways of the world. It held a disgusting combination of superiority and arrogance, and it completely completely rubbed Minato the wrong way.

"In my experience, humans are naturally horrible people," said Natsuo. "They lie, they cheat, they steal, they kill, all for entirely selfish reasons. They support other horrible people: warmongers, racketeers, rapists, bigots and murderers, becoming all those things by association. Frankly, I'd all but given up on the notion that any good person could exist at all. That is, until I heard of you, Sahashi-san."

Something slammed against the steel door from the other side, denting it. Minato, his anger beginning to rise, spared a thought and hoped it wasn't Kazehana who'd been slammed. So caught up in despising Natsuo's outlook that he couldn't even bother to make the most obvious dirty joke he'd ever handed himself, and Kazehana wasn't there to make it for him.

"You seemed like an altruist, at first," Natsuo continued. "Working for MBI makes me privy to certain details regarding the game. Such as, for example, your rescue of The Green Girl-"

"Her name," Minato said, his fingers beginning to seize up, "is Kusano."

"Yes yes, your rescue of Kusano seemed to be out of a desire to help, rather than any other participant's desire to expand their power. I was also aware of how you threw yourself in the way of Number Ten when she attacked Number Three, the night you winged the latter."

 _What_ is _this guy's problem?_ It was really sending Minato into a boil, a childhood of discipline and strict parenting the only thing keeping his _new_ life of Macho Madness, beautiful girls and Slim Jims in check. The latter half was seriously pushing against the former, as it noted that Natsuo's face was looking especially punchable right now.

"However, I now see I was mistaken. Frankly, I should have seen it sooner, when you winged Number Nine to acquire her power. You even said so yourself."

Now Minato's hand was clenched into a fist. The fact this guy was so self-assured and non-aggressive only made his remarks that much more angering. _No, Minato. Keep it together, you'll only prove him right…_

Natsuo sighed. "You're no different, it seems. Now that you're away from them, it seems your altruism was only ever an act. If you are so detached from your Sekirei that you only view them as means to your own selfish ends, then you're just as bad as the rest."

Was he blind? Or did Natsuo just think that Minato was still the same gutless boy he'd been when he bumped into Kazehana?

"Worse, even," Natsuo added, "for not realizing how lucky you've been."

 _POW!_ Right in the chops.

Now that his mask of smug contempt was shattered by Minato's fist, Natsuo was left flabbergasted, on the ground and rubbing his stinging cheek.

" _I know exactly how lucky I've been!_ " Minato snapped. " _Your_ Sekirei once kidnapped me, and the only reason I got out in time was because Tsukiumi and a friend just happened to be there! The only reason any of us made it home from the bridge escape was because of Musubi's special powers! In fact, I only _met_ Musubi and three other of my Sekirei through sheer coincidence! And to top it all off, there's a demon straight from Hell on the loose, and the only reason he hasn't _killed_ any of us is because, from what I can tell, _he just doesn't want to!_ "

Natsuo's eyes widened further, staring up at the angry youth as the rant continued.

"I _hate_ the fact that I've been lucky!" shouted Minato. "I _hate_ the fact that the girls always have to get me out of things! I _hate_ the fact that I'm always so useless in these kinds of fights! And I _especially_ hate the fact that the only reason any of them are with me is because I won some magical lottery and became an Ashikabi!"

Minato jabbed a finger at Natsuo's prone form. " _I'm_ trying to become a better person! What are _you_ doing in those cozy MBI offices all day, huh? Taking phone calls?!"

Oh sweet catharsis, how Minato had missed this feeling. He'd just enacted about 90% of one of his childhood fantasies, incomplete by virtue of the fact that it wasn't his mother he was telling off.

 _Clap. Clap. Clap._

Now that his deluge of rage had ceased, Minato realized that Natsuo's eyes weren't actually looking up _at_ him, but rather, directly _behind_ him.

Minato was afraid to look. He didn't want to. At this close, with physical hands that could make actual sounds, there was no way in hell he wanted to know who was behind him. He just stood there, eyes locked on Natsuo's, refusing even a glance over his shoulder. There was no noise, outside of Minato's ragged breathing, along with…

Along with a muffled shriek of the word "cannon".

Now Minato _did_ spin around, just in time to witness a pink blast of energy obliterate the steel blockade that had trapped his Sekirei.

" _WHERE'S THE BITCH WHO PUT HER HANDS_ ON my..."

From how wide her eyes grew and how many veins popped out of her face, one might think the pink-haired rage machine had blown a gasket. Because, she had.

Covered in scrapes and cuts, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth, her spandex shorts partially covering a nasty bruise on her left thigh, Benitsubasa had been ready to settle in and beat the ever-loving _crap_ out of Eight-Eight, whom she owed for the bridge, and Three, who just happened to be there. Frankly, if it meant sticking it to Eighty-Eight and her wimp of an Ashikabi, Benitsubasa would throw down because the sun rose that morning. But then she got this itch, right next to her heart, and the crippling dread that followed had let Eighty-Eight get a cheap shot in. She had sensed that her Natsuo was in pain, and gone absolutely berserk in order to get out of her self-imposed cage, only to find that not only was Natsuo sporting a broken jaw, but the one who caused it was-

" _ **You.**_ "

Those eyes… Hametsu had, at least, possessed an aura of other-worldliness about his yellow hue, which made easier to rationalize the soul-clenching terror he invoked. But this girl's? No training, no ego, no amount of machismo could stop Minato from clenching his legs together in fear as a pink-gloved hand clamped around his windpipe. His legs then _un-_ clenched as his feet left the ground, swinging back and forth as they desperately sought purchase.

" _ **No big-titted bimbo's saving you**_ **this** _**time, buddy.**_ "

"M… Minato..." called a weak, high-pitched voice.

Leaning up against the side of the destroyed steel, faring no better than the other fist-type, was Minato's second Sekirei. Musubi's eyes were half-closed from fatigue, her face flush from exertion, and her lip had been split. Her clothing left her injuries to Minato's worst fears, covering too much skin to tell. She tried to walk out, to fight some more, shuffling her hand along the wall as she shambled forward.

"Mu-usubi," he gasped, his face feeling like it was about to pop.

"Oh good," said The Red Sekirei. "You can watch each other die."

"AH'M A BIRD, AH'M A PLANE, AH'M A CHOO-CHOO _TRAIN! WOO!"_

 _Klok!_

"AND-A TOUCHDAAAAAAOWN!"

Minato couldn't believe it. One second, he'd been slipping into oblivion, the next, his mentor of several weeks came barreling down at the speed of light, brick in one hand, waistband of his pants in the other like he was holding up a wedding dress, screaming like an escaped mental patient before beaning Benitsubasa in the head with said brick. He _literally_ did not believe his eyes.

But neither could Benitsubasa, which Minato capitalized on by scrambling past her prone form and back to Musubi's side. The Red Sekirei groggily rose to pursue.

"Not today, Washboard."

With almost pinpoint precision, a wind blew past Minato and slammed into Benitsubasa, who in turn collided with Kagedansu's horizontal arm.

"And he hits the lariat!" shouted the Shadow Sekirei. Down again went Benitsubasa, clutching her head from the double dose of pain. Kagedansu jogged around her, his knees almost touching his chest. "Come on, you want some? _YOU WANT SOME?!_ Whoop!"

He nearly caught a punch to the groin but scampered away, legs still pistoning like a diesel engine.

Now back on her feet, the Red Sekirei put her fingers to her temples and massaged _one_ headache away. Another remained before her, the third somewhere behind her, and the final one was probably cozying up to her Ashikabi, wherever they'd crawled off to.

"Changed my mind," snarled The Red Sekirei, pointing at Kagedansu. "You're first."

His eyes widened _extra_ large at that. Even in this low green light, they still looked bloodshot. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Yeah?!"

"Yes!"

"YEAH?!"

"SHUT UP!"

"No."

Grin on his face, The Shadow Sekirei shot a look at Minato, as if to say 'Watch the master at work.'

He was attacked from the right, then the left. Right, left, left-right! She came closer; the fight was _really_ on now! She swung and missed, she missed and swung! She was right on top of him and he just kept dancing around her punches, always waiting until the last instant before jolting away. The Red Sekirei was picking up speed now, forcing Kagedansu to use his hands as he turned aside a machine gun flurry of punches, all aimed as his punchable face. Ducking, weaving, bobbing, rolling, the two were circling each other like a pair of brawling cyclones, kicking up dust and cracking the floor beneath them.

Wait, was that _all_ Minato was supposed to get from this? To use his legs when punching? Because he _knew_ that. He learned that from watching martial arts clips online during his lonely single days. Oh well. Reminders were nice, too.

The fight came to a halt with a loud smack, the fighters darting apart. Her back to Minato, Benitsubasa rubbed her behind, a low growl rising from her throat.

Kagedansu was back to jogging, his face once again visible to his student. "I'm runnin' on ginseng and sugar and I don't even _know_ how many liters of kh-, kh-, kh-, _caffeine,_ " he coughed. A smile revealed his teeth to his foe. "Youuuu caaaan't _TOUCHME!_ "

The Red Sekirei cracked her knuckles and craned her neck. "Let's see how cocky you are while you're counting teeth."

" _Lemmeanswerwithanotherquestion, youfeeladraft?_ "

Whatever look he got for that, it probably wasn't the one he wanted. So, Sixty-Seven reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like an oil rag. An oddly-shaped one, though: it resembled an hourglass sliced vertically, torn on the top and bottom. In fact, turning his head sideways, Minato had to say it looked like a sideways pair of-

 _Oh no,_ Minato thought, his heart beginning to sink. _He didn't actually..._

As if to tip her off, a slight breeze blew in from behind him, after which he felt Kazehana lean on his back, giggling uncontrollably. Even from here, he could see every muscle in Benistubasa's body tense up, as the pinkette reached down to her inner thigh and discovered that she'd "lost" something.

Kagedansu grinned wider as he waved the shorts like a cape. "Olé."

"I'LL MURDER YOU!"

Cackling like an old witch, Sixty-Seven took off running, the angry pinkette in hot pursuit.

Kazehana shook her head. "That guy is nuts."

"I'm not nuts, I'm- Oo!" echoed Kagedansu's voice, pained slightly.

"But," she continued, nuzzling Minato's cheek, "you're still crazier."

"Why me?" Minato asked.

"'Who's more nutsy," Musubi proposed, sitting down next to him, "the nut, or the nuts that grow when you take that first nut and plant it in the ground?"

The other two stared at her, Kazehana smiling slightly. "You wanna try that again, Mu-chan?"

"What I'm trying to say is..." Musubi laid a hand on her tummy. "I'm really hungry."

"Finally!" came Takano's voice.

Sure enough, there was the hooded youth and his halberd-wielding Sekirei trotting along, the former out of breath.

"Aww, is it over already?" Namiji whined. "I wanted to see 105 in action again. We came all this way for nothing!"

"Not nothing," said Musubi, pointing. There on the ground, equidistant between the two parties, nestled in the cracks that Benitsubasa and Kagedansu had left, was Jinki #5.

The eyes of the two Ashikabi met. Gone was the amiable camaraderie that they'd formed throughout this mad contest, not a trace of friendliness left. Neither dared flinch or look away, as the winner of this silent contest between them would inevitably walk out with the coveted prize, and a chance to advance further in Minaka's game. Who would claim it? Who would come out as the alpha male? Who would fall in line behind them? The answer for both men remained "Me".

"Um, Minato?" Musubi asked, sounding worried, more so when he didn't reply.

Minato could see it in Takano, and Takano in Minato: this wasn't just about the match, but about their masculinity. To back down would show weakness in front of their girl(s), and neither man would stand for it. Now it was a contest of whose balls would go home in whose purse, the testosterone in the air so thick that a single spark could blow the whole tunnel.

Takano flicked his hand. "Take it."

Minato simply nodded, slowly walking over to claim his prize. "Now let's get out of here."

The other Ashikabi chuckled. "It'd probably be safer with you, anyway."

Minato looked at Natsuo, who'd stood by watching the whole thing. This third Ashikabi simply shrugged, and began walking off where Benitsubasa had run.

"Good luck, boys," said Natsuo. "I'll give Karasuba your regards, Eighty-Eight."

"Oh? Thank you!" Musubi chirped.

"Hey," Minato called, "I'm sorry I hit you, sir. I should've been more collected."

"It doesn't matter, Sahashi-san," Natsuo replied, now passing by Takano. "Your fate will be the same as all mankind's when Karasuba wins the game."

Minato raised a brow at that, silently retracting his apology. If anything, Natsuo sounded like he needed another good crack, maybe with the remains of Kagedansu's brick. "Sure it will," he muttered.

"Whatever, let's get out of here," said Kazehana, dragging Minato to his feet and leaning on him melodramatically. "I hope you can bear it, Minato. I'm soooooo weak from fighting."

"I'm not!" Musubi declared, providing a counter-weight on his opposite side. "I'm just hungry."

"Yeah, I think I'm done with dank, dark tunnels," Minato said.

"Oooo, I hope not," cooed Kazehana, nudging him with her hip.

"Hey, Takano," called Minato, "you coming?"

Takano nodded, and that was all Minato needed. As he and his two Sekirei walked on, hoping to find Benitsubasa's original point of entry, Namiji looked at her Ashikabi. Her girlish cheer was noticeably absent, replaced by a look of nausea and guilt. Takano held up a finger and mouthed the words "Not quite yet".

* * *

 **Author's notice:**

I decided to try a schedule. Every other weekend will see a new chapter of Sekirei: Fear of the Dark, with the weekends between going to my other fic, "In the Footsteps of Father Time". Don't know if I'll manage or for how long, but I know people hate waiting for new stuff and one chapter per month meant this thing wouldn't be done until at least 2020.

So if anyone's interested in co-writing with me (as opposed to just beta-reading), I could use the extra help. Send me a PM if you're interested.


	62. Human Heart, Human Mind

**Human Heart, Human Mind**

"So what are _you_ going to do when we get back, Minato?"

The Ashikabi stumbled a bit. Musubi was leaning hard on him, gripping his shoulder for support, as was Kazehana. Though they balanced one another out, the extra weight leaning forward made divots more of a hazard. As the women caught him once again (making him wonder why they needed support in the first place), Minato knew it would only be a matter of time. Kazehana was just biding her time, ready to fling herself on top of him.

 _Oh Minato_ , her specter crooned in his mind. _Catch me; I'm too weak to walk by myself. Oooooh…_

Then they'd be on the ground; she'd either trick Musubi away, or teach her sister Sekirei the horizontal tango.

"Mmmh, thinking about me?" Kazehana cooed.

"All the time." Minato congratulated himself for another rare time where _she_ blushed. "Why would now be any different?"

She giggled at that and ran a hand along his upper pant leg. He realized that his pants felt a bit, well, taught.

"Keep trying, Minato," said Musubi on his other side. She smiled at him. "You'll get her."

"Oh, he already has, Mu-chan," smirked The Wind Sekirei. "By the way, Mina-kun, when's Round Two for us? A woman has her desires, you know."

"Uhhhm..."

Behind them, Takano and Namiji remained silent. They said plenty, but no sound came from their mouths. Instead, the two enunciated to each other, pantomiming a plan to prepare for their post-subterranean action. Namiji did her best to maintain her cheerful outlook, in case one of the other three turned around and saw them, but she hated to be a part of this. She loved Takano dearly and knew that he felt the same, but something like this… It just didn't seem fair. They'd known Minato and his Sekirei for only a few hours but those had been some of the most unforgettable hours of Namiji's life, for better or worse.

Takano outlined his plan to her as best he could, though every fiber of her being wanted to blurt out the whole thing just so they and Musubi could stay friends. It was lonely being a Sekirei, for barring an Ashikabi there was rarely anyone to relate to. Anyone who did was always an opponent, and they'd both have to fight eventually.

Despite knowing that, Namiji still wanted to believe that she wouldn't have to fight Musubi. Number 73 made the best argument she could on her new friends' behalf, but she knew in her heart that Takano was right. That didn't stop her from trying, though.

She was cut off when Takano stilled her forward walk, for Minato and _his_ Sekirei had, as well.

"What's the hold-up?" Takano asked.

The three remained silent. A little nervous, Namiji gripped her halberd and peered past them.

There past the end of the light stood… A man? She thought it was. He wore an oxford blue fleece with a small white insignia on his left breast. His loose-fitting track pants were only visible by the white racing lines down the outside of each leg. What little skin he showed looked like it was blacked up by all the coal from Gunkanjima.

The black-faced man smiled. "Opportunity but once," he said, his effeminately silken voice drifting through the air like smoke. Then he was gone, dissolved into the wall behind him. Then the wall itself dissolved, light from above illuminating a smashed-in entrance to a small chamber, in the center of which was a metal sewer ladder.

"Was that him?" Takano asked.

Even from behind, they could see Minato's slow, fearful nod.

Minato stood his ground, a frown creasing his brow as he looked away to the floor, lost in perplexed thought. Not for long, though.

"Finally!" exclaimed Musubi.

"Wait a minute!" Minato had her by the waist, his heels dragging along the stone as Musubi obliviously kept walking.

The brunette turned back to look at him. "Why?"

"It could be a trap, for one," said Minato.

"I know," said Musubi casually, looking back at the light. "But what if it's not?"

"Come on, he's practically _handing_ this to us! Didn't you hear what he said?"

From just behind his ear, a voice whispered to Minato, " _Now what makes you think I was talking to_ you, _Minato Sahashi?"_

Like he was swatting at a mosquito, Minato slapped the side of his head. Alas to no avail: in a moment, the sinister chuckle was back.

" _Then by all means, stay_ ," it whispered. " _What are players without a game?_ _ **Or game without a hunt?**_ "

Minato didn't say a thing. He didn't shout, scream, whimper, murmur, not one auditory sound escaped his lips. Instead, he took Kazehana and Musubi by the hand and led them to the opening, timing his steps to come off as contemptuous as possible. Namiji, on the other hand, was not as stoic. Now that she'd heard that voice, she was more than eager to be rid of it. Her Ashikabi was slung over her shoulder, halberd clattering on the ground as she hurried along. Takano didn't even grumble an objection.

Stopping only at the entrance way to gently guide the two ladies forward, Minato turned his head just long enough to utter the word, "Content."

In spite of the creature's mind games, the ladder appeared to be (strangely enough) an ordinary ladder. Four holes of light shone from above, the only way the ladder led. Musubi went up first, followed by Minato, then Kazehana, then Takano, with Namiji bringing up the rear.

They were about halfway up when-

"Whoop! Kazehana-!"

"Relax," she said softly, holding up the Jinki for him to see. She chuckled. "I'll keep it safe for you."

"Uh, Kazehana? If you put it there, it might fall again."

The Wind Sekirei giggled. "Then you better take it out, Mina-kun." She squealed with happy surprise as Minato's hand came down plunging into the valley of her cleavage. Kazehana's eyes slid shut as her Ashikabi struggled to get a grip on the crystalline object between her breasts, she and he keeping a spare hand on the ladder. While Minato blushed as heavily as Kazehana, the Jinki started to slide out the square-cut holes beneath her enormous chest. With her other hand, she reached up and pushed it back up, levering it around to prolong Minato's one-handed spelunking.

Her fun soon came to an end. Minato yanked his hand free and shoved the Jinki back into his pocket, his face as red as a heat lamp.

"Sorry for the... the wait!" he shouted down the shaft.

"It's okay!" Namiji called back. "You guys are giving me all _sorts_ of ideas!"

Takano grumbled at _that_ , yes sir, looking straight ahead so as not to peek up Kazehana's dress. Despite that, she still wiggled her deliciously developed ass at him, a spark of jealousy emanating through her bond with Minato. Kazehana giggled again; she couldn't wait to see what this envy would lead to, the next time she caught Minato alone, preferably in bed.

Light suddenly exploded down from above. Looking up, it framed Musubi's face and form as that of a seraphim, her brown hair and pretty face perfectly shadowed. Kazehana wished she could've had the front, so Minato could see _her_ in that angelic glow.

Musubi waved them up. "Come on, you guys! Traffic's waiting!" She hopped up and disappeared into the day, followed by a car horn, the screech of tires, and the crunch of metal.

Pulling himself out, Minato was greeted by the sight of a ruined Toyota Camry, its front bumper mangled into an imprint of Musubi's legs.

"Stupid bitch, you totaled my car!"" screamed the driver, a rather tall man leaning out the window, so angry that his head was vibrating.

"Shame on you!" Musubi scolded. "Red means stop, you know!"

"Sir?" Minato asked, strutting over to the man and leaning against the roof. "You really think it's a good idea to yell at her after she broke your car against herself?"

The man grabbed Minato by his collar. "What's it to you, punk?!"

The windshield shattered, and the idiot was knocked out by a bop to the head by Musubi.

"How rude!" remarked Musubi, pulling her hand free as bits of glass clinked down against the dashboard. "Blaming me for smashing his car..."

Minato chuckled nervously. "Well, you _did_ sort of cost him a windshield."

"Only because he was about to hurt you!"

Minato shook his head. "You can't just break things like that, Musubi. Next time, just pull his hand off of me."

"But that might've ripped your shirt!"

"So? It's either my cheap shirt or his expensive windshield."

"But- But-" Musubi struggled to find a response. "But I _like_ you!"

Minato looked back at the unconscious man. "I kind of figured..."

"Okay, time to say goodbye to the grouchy driver," said Kazehana, smiling at the scene. She took her husband and her fellow Sekirei by the hands and lead them to the street corner, where Namiji and Takano were waiting.

"I guess it's goodbye for us," said Takano.

"Really?" Musubi asked. "At least eat breakfast with us!"

"Didn't you already have breakfast, Mu-chan?"

Musubi's stomach growled.

"Never mind," sighed Kazehana amusedly.

Takano wave them off. "Nah. I heard about you, Minato. You're the Ashikabi of the North. The one that winged Number 9."

"True." Minato's thoughts drifted to Tsukiumi's likely, immediate, _violent_ reaction to another Sekirei near her husband, one that Minato hadn't winged. "Yeah, that's a good… Wait a minute, what do you mean you've 'heard' of me?!"

Takano nodded. "Lots of people have, ever since you helped those other two cross the bridge. Everyone's heard of the Guardian Sekirei, so everyone also heard about what went down when you winged him."

"Evidently, the rumors left out the parts with the Discipline Squad," said Kazehana, hand on her hips. "Guess that wasn't worth mentioning, huh?"

"Afraid so," said Namiji, smiling as she stepped in front of the two other Sekirei. "That's part of why we were so stand-offish when we first met. We didn't want one of The Big Four to squash us flat."

Takano grumbled again, prompting Namiji to give him a hug. "It's okay, Takano. You're still fierce to me!"

The grumbling increased.

"Still," said Namiji. "I'm glad we met. It was a pleasure to fight alongside you."

Takano ceased whingeing and grumpily extended a hand to Minato. "Nice to meet you in person, Minato."

"Gosh, don't look so happy about it!" Minato joked.

The three Sekirei all exchanged bows, while Takano gripped Minato's hand and bumped chests with him. "I'd wish you good luck," said the younger Ashikabi, "but..."

"I know," Minato replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "To be honest, I didn't want to become some Ashikabi celebrity. Things just happened and next thing I know I'm living with six women."

"Six?" Takano asked, a little lost. "What happened to Homura?"

Minato's lips pursed at that, and a queasy feeling wormed its way into his stomach. "On second thought, I probably shouldn't mention that. So I'll just wish you good luck?"

Takano nodded. "Thanks. I'll probably need it. Anyway, c'mon Namiji."

"Bye bye!" Musubi called, standing on her tip-toes and waved them off. "I hope we can fight each other next time!"

"Me too!" Namiji hollered back.

As soon as the couple were out of sight, Minato set _his_ sights on Kazehana.

The Wind Sekirei felt a little uneasy at that look Minato was giving her. It was not one of amusement, quite the opposite. Was he angry at her? Well… Maybe she'd gone a little _too_ far with her teasing, especially after how horny she'd gotten towards the end. Perhaps that horniness and frustration had transferred over to him? She could only wonder, as his eyes looked around to get their bearings.

"This way," he said, with a tone that was not to be argued with. He towed the two women along the sidewalk, shouldering his way through anyone that tried to get too close, or rather, too close to the lovely ladies he led. He had a faint recollection of where they were, getting clearer with each square of concrete trod upon, until he spied the restaurant where Tsukiumi had taken him for a lunch date a while back.

 _Okay, so if I remember correctly,_ he thought, crossing the street, _it's a few blocks down until…_

His memory was a little hazy around this part, since he'd been paying more attention to Tsukiumi than where they were going. At the next intersection, he stopped.

"Are we lost?" Musubi asked.

"I'm not..." Minato trailed off, before an idea came to him. "Musubi, c'mere."

"Okay!" The girl practically leapt into his open arms, snuggling against him and humming like a kitten. She didn't even question why.

Meanwhile, Kazehana got the impression that this was revenge. She chuckled a little; if Minato truly wanted payback for all the times she'd teased him, he had a long way to go to break even.

"Okay, now I remember," he said. He resumed walking, his subconscious mind retracing its steps from that day. Kazehana huffed and crossed her arms, following behind. Truth be told, she was _insanely_ jealous of Musubi right now, and dreaming up scenarios for payback of her own. Not in a hostile way like Tsukiumi, but more making a mental note to smother Minato later. As the reigning Queen of Teases, there was only one throne, and she wasn't about to abdicate.

 _Just you wait, Mina-kun…_ _You haven't even seen my_ B _-game._

Their journey came to a halt at the mouth of an alleyway, Minato deep in recollection. "This is it."

Kazehana's excitement grew as he grabbed her by the waist and possessively walked her down, around the corner where no one could see them. Stopping and spinning her about, Minato gripped her by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.

"You said you're my wife, Kazehana," scolded Minato, devoid of all humor. Seems he was still peeved after all. Yet he couldn't hide his true feelings from their bond, and the emotions caressing her mind at that moment… Ooooh, those dirty thoughts he was having of her…

"So why are you flirting with other guys?" he asked, quite seriously, for the wellspring of caresses had faded. He'd gotten a handle on himself, and that's when Kazehana knew he wasn't fooling around.

"I can't help it, Mina-kun," she confessed. "I like having men look at me. It's just something I expect."

She stretched herself out before him, smiling shyly. "When you look like I do, other men will look at you no matter what. I learned to enjoy it."

"I get that," Minato said, "but do you really have to encourage it?"

"It's one thing to have the look," said Kazehana, smiling, "but being this good takes practice."

"Am I not enough practice for you?" Minato narrowed his eyes, though she sensed he was falling prey to her charms. "I guess that means I'll have to be harder on you."

"You go right ahead, Mister," said Kazehana, prodding him in the chest and running her finger along his (remarkably well-defined) pectoral. "But just how often could _you_ keep your eyes off of me when we first met?"

Minato sighed, a small smile breaking through his irritated exterior. "Barely," he admitted.

Kazehana slid her arms around him. "But now I have to share you with three other girls. I can't afford to fall behind."

"Neither can I!" Musubi exclaimed, hugging them both and rubbing her cheek against Minato. "I'll be Minato's #1, no matter what it takes!"

Minato cupped Musubi's other cheek, his eyes still on Kazehana. "I still feel like I'm owed an apology, especially since you started flirting with another Ashikabi."

"Oh?" Kazehana ran her tongue along her ruby lips, leaning closer to his mouth. "Consider it done."

"Not like that," he replied, surprising her by gently placing a hand to her lips and leaning her away. "You're not getting kissed until you say your sorry."

 _Feeling a little cocky after winning, hm?_ Kazehana snaked her fingers along his shoulders. "You want me on my knees, then?"

"Not my first thought," he admitted arrogantly, "but it's a start."

"Oh, come on!" Musubi said, hugging them both to herself. "Why is everyone pretending to not get along?"

"Part of the game, Musubi," said Kazehana. "Makes it more fun when you win."

She then leaned close to Minato's ear, her hot breath giving him goosebumps all over, as she seductively whispered, "Careful what you wish for, Mina-kun."

Her hands began to slide down his shirt, Musubi watching curiously. Kazehana's cat-grin grew wider (along with Minato's eyes) when she hooked her fingers into the waistband of his pants. He'd thrown on a more loose-fitting pair than his usual jeans, in preparation for more of Kagedansu's conditioning. Now it was time for Kazehana to take advantage of that, and to see how long he could stand before she reduced him to putty.

Her leg hurt from where Benitsubasa kicked it, but she paid it no mind. She was on the fast track to recovering, and she liked to think this would speed things up a bit. After all, Sekirei gained power from their Ashikabi's bond with them. Oh, this hot vixen was about to bond with him, alright.

Giving no warning, she yanked both his pants _and_ boxers down at the same time. Her eyes blinked, a natural reflex to being gently bapped in the face. Keeping her sights locked, she dragged her nose all the way to his torso, feeling the nervous knocking of his legs against her cheek.

"W-Wait!" Minato stammered. "Kazehana, I was just kidding!"

"Really." She smirked, her eyes twinkling with lust. "Because I sure wasn't."

"But you're hurt!"

She pouted playfully. "I'll be more hurt if you stop me, Mina-kun. A wife's heart is a fragile thing."

"Oh, I see!" Musubi quickly dropped down to join her, wetting her tongue on the inside of her mouth.

"You too, Musu-EE!" Minato made a very unmanly squeak, vocal chords totally clamped up as the busty brunette licked him.

"Well of course, silly! I'm your wife, too, ya know!"

Kazehana eyed her mischievously, the first time she'd broken eye contact with Minato since making her move. "Then let's blow Minato's mind, Mu-chan."

Despite Minato's objection (for their sake), that's exactly what they did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're back, you guys!" Musubi called as she passed through Maison Izumo's front door.

All the way home again and Minato still felt like his brain had been sucked out through-

" _MINATO, THOU ART LATE!_ "

The youth, gaunt-faced and weak from how hard his muscles had tensed (and that was _on top of_ all the walking he'd done today), couldn't even lift his head as Tsukiumi came storming in from the back.

"Matsu reported thee ages ago, whilst thou caused a stir among the local motorists!" A firm but soft hand gripped his jaw and forced his skull up. "Pray tell, what manner of mischievous prat would call thee midwife to his antics?"

Kazehana smirked, hugging her cushions to the side of Minato's face. "Oh, you know, just..." She giggled. "Enjoying our time out."

Musubi chimed in. "And giving Minato-"

" _An idea!_ " he blurted out. Tsukiumi's eyes narrowed and scared the life back into his limbs. He stood, showcasing his height over the three women, craning his stiff and unused neck. "I had an idea on the way back."

"Big brother!" Kusano came out of the living room and torpedoed his legs out from under him. He felt his pride take a hit along with his back as, in his weakened state, he fell down.

"I'm awake!" squeaked the girl as she crawled up and hugged his chest. "Take me with you!"

"Sorry, Ku, but the Match is over already," said Musubi.

"Grrr!" Kusano looked livid at that. "Then tell them to start again!"

"Tell who?"

"I dunno, _someone!_ "

Tsukiumi stood over them, leveling a finger at his face. "Do not think thou hast escaped scrutiny, my suspicious and gallivanting husband. Matsu failed to mention what thou hast been doing, delaying thy return, and despite mine insistence she refused-"

Where he was sitting, Minato had a perfect view of Tsukiumi's panties, as well as the smooth, firm thighs that joined at them. For someone who once thought Ashikabis were evil, exploitative pigs, Tsukiumi's outfit wasn't the kind that repelled the male gaze. Her boots and the straps that held them up were about one black lace trim away from becoming lingerie. Instantly, the image popped into Minato's head: a vision of Tsukiumi, as she'd appeared in the bath, clinging to her curves and sheltering her privacy with her hand, only now she had a pair of black lace nylon leggings, the flesh around the straps bulging out to emphasize the plump, soft skin that waited for her lover.

"-so I would hear it from thee, husband."

Minato blinked, looking up at Tsukiumi. "Hear what now?"

Tsukiumi growled angrily. "Wert thou _-"_ That's when she noticed the anomaly about his pants. " _CLEANSE THY THOUGHTS AND HEED ME!_ "

Minato shrugged. "It's hard not to think like that when I see you, Tsukiumi."

That wound her down, The Water Sekirei crossing her arms and looking away. "'Tis true, I suppose..."

"In fact," said Minato, climbing to his feet, "I wanted to spend a whole day looking at you."

Her eyes widened, and she met his gaze again. Breathless, she whispered, "...What?"

"Now hold on," said Kazehana, pecking his cheek and wrapping his arms around him, "if anyone deserves a date with Minato, it's his wife."

" _I_ am his wife, thou trollop!"

"Me too!" Musubi exclaimed.

"Thou art not!"

"Well, you're right about that, at least," said Kazehana slyly, hanging off of Minato's shoulders.

"I'll not see my husband seduced by the likes of thee!"

"Wait, then why don't you just close your eyes?" said Musubi obliviously.

"Oh, dates can wait!" The entire group turned to see Matsu coming down the stairs. "First thing's first. Actually..."

Tucking her glasses into her collar, Matsu snagged Minato's head with her sleeves and Frenched him good. Her golden wings passed through Tsukiumi, who was naturally quite upset.

"Unhand him!"

Matsu did, once her wings died down. "Not because you asked, Tsukiumi."

"I care not as to why," she declared, before standing before Minato and getting in his face. "Now then, Minato, what art thou on about? Mm!"

Since she wasn't going to kiss him, Minato kissed her. It was quick; Tsukiumi's limbs twitched as she wavered between pleasure at her husband's touch and embarrassment of doing something so untoward in front of the concubines.

"I was saying," he said, after finishing and cupping her cheek, "that I want to take you all out on a date. You guys all get stronger when you bond with me, right? So you each get a date with me, alone, and we'll bond."

"Me first! Me first!" Musubi was hopping up and down, shaking Minato's free hand as she did so. "Ow..."

Watching Musubi wince as she put a hand to her left breast, Minato remembered his hurry to return. "I'll get the first aid kit. You two sit in the living room."

As he made to go upstairs, Matsu grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Hold on! First let's see the Jinki you won!"

"Yes, show us thy prize for thy troubles, Minato."

Minato smiled, happy to show off, but stopped when he turned his empty pocket inside out.

"What's wrong?" asked Musubi, sensing his alarm.

Quickly checking his other side, there was no WAY it fell out again. He'd jammed it in so far that the only way he could've lost it was if it poked through the lining and slid down his pant leg. Yet it was gone, like it had never been there.

Tsukiumi sighed. "Then once again, 'twas all for naught."

"No! I swear I had it!" cried Minato. "I put it in my pocket as soon as we climbed out! I know I still had it when we went over to the sidewalk, and..."

He remembered: Takano bumping into him to say goodbye, one hand on Minato's. But the other hand, the one that mirrored the side on which he'd pocketed the Jinki.

Minato's hands slapped against his skull, his entire body curling in as he sunk to the ground. " _WHY WOULD YOU_ DO _THAT, TAKANO?!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere in the city, a young Ashikabi lay battered and beaten alongside his beloved Sekirei. He coughed, the coppery taste of blood on his lip, his ribs hurting with each breath. He'd tried his best, he'd kissed her, he'd stood by her as the weeks wore on and more and more coupled had been shattered, some by their own hand. All throughout, they'd given it everything they had, and for what?

The point of impact stung, the brick wall having scraped and left torn bits of skin on his temple. His vision re-focused again, something no longer guaranteed thanks to a minor concussion. Staring back at him were the fading eyes of his Sekirei, blood trickling from her mouth and pooling from where it spilled from her body.

"Takan… Takano..." she whimpered, meekly grasping at the air. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here," he coughed, sliding a hand along the ground to take her own. Before he could, though, her eyes closed and her outstretched fingers went limp. Her breath stilled, and inside, Takano felt himself die.

He could still see the white cloth of their attacker, walking away like she'd just thrown out a plastic cup. The Jinki, _their_ Jinki, was in her white-gloved hand, her brown hair swaying from side to side. As sweet, painless oblivion took him, Takano thought he heard the sound of approaching helicopters…


	63. Where Cool Water Flows

**Where Cool Water Flows**

Prize in hand, The Veiled Sekirei stole away from the scene of murder, leaving the hapless girl to die alongside the unfortunate boy who'd winged her. Fair warning was fair warning, but pity was beyond the white-clad mercenary, nary a thought spared for her victims, nor for the fate of The Shrouded One. If the kid lived, then he lived; if not, that was no concern of hers. At most, it would mean more work, and more time away from Higa.

Tucked away in her left glove was Jinki #5, the blood on the cloth not even dry, _innocent_ blood. She'd wash it off when her Ashikabi passed on; forever was a long time to atone.

All the more reason to cherish every moment they had left together. Where she was going post-mortem, Chiho wouldn't be joining her.

Now that she thought about it, she hoped The Shroud made it back okay. For everyone's sake. That is, everyone except that black-faced, forked-tongued, shit-eating cockroach that took Chiho away.

A dim shadow passed over the rooftops, tinting everything with a slight grey. A thick cloud was overhead, meaning MBI's spy satellites wouldn't see. Quickly, she leapt into the air and latched on to the side of Higa Medical's Tokyo branch, her veils pressing against the frame of a wide window. Feeling around for the exterior latch, she swiveled it open and slipped inside, closing it just in time for the sun to reappear. Handy things, these hospital windows, especially if a patient needed a neat and tidy demise. People made bad decisions while hopped up on meds.

Ignoring the gawking eyes of the room's occupant, The Veiled Sekirei silently excused herself and, once in the hall, quickly got her bearings. In no time at all, she was standing in front of her overseer, offering the Jinki as requested.

To her surprise, Higa waved her off. "I can't accept that."

She glared at him. What was this sociopath playing at now?

"It's a matter of legality," said Higa. "Minaka might be a madman with delusions of grandeur, but he's quite resourceful. If he connected me to that Jinki, he'd think _I_ was the one who attacked an Ashikabi to steal it. Even by the altered rules, that's very much illegal."

Clasping his hands, the white-suit-wearing businessman propped his elbows on his desk and laced his fingers together. "That Jinki is yours, Number 10. There's always next match."

Stifling a scowl, the veiled assassin turned and stormed out of the room. Of course he wouldn't take it. Now she had to win him a _second_ one, so he could have _two_ pawns in the Final Stage, where no doubt she'd have to lay down and give up her Sekirei crest, all so Chiho could have a few more days before they pulled the plug, having outlived her usefulness. Still, at least with a Jinki, Uzume had a fighting chance, which meant Chiho did, too.

 _You're welcome_.

She stopped. Sekirei had no body hair to speak of, their superior genes leaving them with no need for leftover simian traits. That didn't stop the tiny sparks of anxiety from crawling all over her skin. The hall lights were bright, and daylight shone through a bay window from around the corner. Not even the hallway _plants_ were casting a shadow. Where did-… _How_ was he-

 _I'll collect at my convenience_.

Then, nothing. As quickly as it came, the chill on her nerves lifted. The corners of Uzume's slowly began to tighten, pulling in and down as her eyes narrowed.

Now it was _two_ people who thought she owed them something. Oh, she did, but not what they had in mind. Since Higa wasn't outliving his use anytime soon, that meant she could only deliver to one.

"Anytime, you freak..." she murmured.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the living room of Maison Izumo, Minato sat bestricken on the couch, clawing at his own hair while groaning his nauseated anguish on to the floorboards. He felt a few stomach-turns short of projectile vomiting, which etiquette demanded he refrain from. Still, if guilt came in liquid form, the couch would be one mast away from sailing in it.

"Uuuughh how could I be so _stupid,_ " he groaned gutturally. The thought crossed his mind to have Kagedansu slug him in the gut, if only to saddle him with more pleasant feeling. His intestinal tract was doing high-flying circus acts with how tight it was twisting; he had that phantom need to evacuate his bowels, but at the same time wanting to just sit here and languish in anguish.

His knees raised to his chest and his body tipped sideways, curling up like an infantile depressive insisting that the strange voices in his head were real. Right now, those voices were telling Minato how much he sucked, while another, louder voice was reading the riot act to his accomplices.

"For shame!" Tsukiumi snapped, waggling a finger at both Kazehana and Musubi, the former taking it in stride while the latter merely hung her head and stared at Tsukiumi's boots. "Foiled and fooled, by a foe barely weaned!"

From the outset, there was no mystery to who bore the brunt of Tsukiumi's ire, for only one other vied for the title of "wife".

"I know thy transgression," Tsukiumi said, waspishly scowling. "Than cast thy watch to my husband's keep, thou sought to invade and conquer. And whilst thou dreamt of filthy assault, a thief made off with thy charge!"

Tsukiumi turned her nose up a Number 3. "A dark day indeed, when 'tis Musubi bearing falcon's eyes." She gestured at her grief-stricken spouse. "Now lookest thou there: my husband, unplumed by thy folly."

Musubi clutched at her skull as well. "I feel really bad about it, too."

Tsukiumi huffed. "Thou art the same, both adrift in white-cast heavens. Yet I held _thee-_ " Tsukiumi jabbed a finger at Kazehana. "-to loftier heights."

Kazehana sighed, unable to look at her beloved Ashikabi in such a miserable state. "Yeah… Yeah, you're right, Tsukiumi."

"Eternally," said The Water Sekirei. The two Sekirei, now _thoroughly_ chastised (according to Tsukiumi, anyway), were left to wallow in their shame while Tsukiumi moved to comfort her husband.

Only to find Ku standing next to him and muttering encouragement into his ear.

" _What-?!_ He is mine, thou brat!"

"He's mine, too!" Ku shot back, hugging Minato's head to her chest while sticking out her tongue.

"Mistaken, though thou art, thy true plottings show." The Water Sekirei now kneeled next to him, tearing Minato free of Ku's embrace so his left ear could rest in her cleavage, his cheek cushioned on her soft breast. "Fear not; a man of thee I shall make again."

Minato was oblivious, lost in his own little whirlwind of regret, muttering to himself. "-if it was because of that thing I told him on the train, about not flirting with Kazehana-"

Tsukiumi frowned at that, at least until Ku tried to steal him back. Even if they weren't Sekirei, Tsukiumi's adult muscles put her well beyond Ku's meager strength. Minato's quiet rambling grew slightly less articulate as the corner of his mouth was muffled by woman-flesh.

What was an ideal situation for Tsukiumi quickly soured when Musubi decided to insert herself between the married couple.

"Minato?" The brunette seemed unsure, her Ashikabi still faux-catatonic. Kneeling in front of him, while ignoring (or unaware of) Tsukiumi's hostile glare, Musubi scooched up and knocked his elbows off his knees, causing his head to keel forward, off of Tsukiumi's breast and on to her own. The blonde was ready to slap every inch of Musubi's-

"It's not your fault," said the fist-type, gently laying her chin among his hair. "We did bad, Kazehana and me. Only one of us can win The Sekirei Plan. We know that better than you do, so we should've paid more attention to Takano and Namiji. It's _our_ fault the Jinki got taken, Minato."

Two gloved hands clasped his jaw and tilted his head up, his eyes shifting back to reality, the first thing he saw being Musubi's brown irises, the first thing he heard being her voice.

"So don't be sad, Minato. Please?"

A heavy sigh, Minato sank back down into wallowing-position. "It's not that simple, Musubi."

She beamed at him. "Sure it is." In a moment, she was propping up his head in her hands, pressing her cheek to his. "Like this."

" _Enough!_ " Tsukiumi squawked. She attempted to steal Minato back, to no avail, so ending up pulling _herself_ against Minato's side, bosom pressed to his rib. " _I_ am wed to him, so _my_ love he shall bask in."

"Mine, too!" Ku squeaked, mimicking Tsukiumi with Minato's other side.

One member was absent from this equation. Well, _two_ , actually. Both were upstairs, one plugging away at her computers, the other leaning against the former's door frame.

"Rrgh!" Matsu clenched her fists, pinching the bridge of her nose. "No sign of them anywhere!"

Shifting gears, The Wisdom Sekirei scooted over to a different monitor, this one running a search through MBI's files on various Sekirei. Filtering through the flotsam and jetsam of useless info, faces of Karasuba, Yahan, Uzume, Kagedansu, the Raiden Twins, until the cyber slot stopped on the face she wanted.

"No. 73, Namiji," Matsu read off. "Type: Weapon; Status…" A moment passed. Then, her shoulders rose before she released an exasperated sigh.

A quick click of the mouse closed the window. "Someone already got to her. Stage 3, no winner in sight."

Kazehana shifted uncomfortably. "So, Uzume, then?"

"Guess so." Sliding the keyboard's sliding platform beneath the desk, Matsu stood and shot a look at her bestie. "Hope you're not gonna beat yourself up for _too_ too long."

This prompted a quick huff from Kazehana. "Why not? While I was busy screwing around with Minato's hormones, I completely forgot. 'Hey, Kazehana, you're supposed to be guarding the Jinki, not baiting Minato with it.' Some wife _I_ am, right?"

"Well…" Matsu looked her friend up and down, as if to remind herself of the obvious. "You don't exactly need the help."

Kazehana chuckled, a small, weak sound. "Clearly I didn't think so, and that was just with Musubi around. You know, Ms. 'Cute and Innocent', meanwhile I'm flaunting my goodies left and right and practically lying on the ground to spread 'em for Minato. You think Musubi even knows about sex? I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know one hole-"

"OKAAAY, you're upset!" shouted Matsu. "And who wouldn't be?"

The orangette adjusted her glasses, a glimmer shining behind them. "So now we figure out how to keep pushing forward."

"I'm all ears, Matsu." Kazehana laid her hands behind her head, an act normally reserved for when her husband was in sight, or when her husband was doubting himself again.

"Morale's low, that's for sure." An over-long sleeve flopped against her arm as Matsu clasped her hands. "And I just figured out how to solve it!"

"That fast, huh?"

"Like lightning struck my brain! In fact, I wonder if Minato's thought of this, too."

Trotting out of her room, Matsu hopped downstairs and leaned in to view the living room. "Hey, you guys, I think _I_ might have the answer!"

Surrounded by Sekirei, Minato turned his head just enough to see Matsu. The three girls around him were more animated.

"We go out with him!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was nearly an hour later when the pandemonium finally died down. Everyone _loved_ the idea overall, but when it came to the finer details, it was like watching a session of American Congress.

Each girl wanted to be first, all except Tsukiumi, who wanted to be the sole recipient as "the real wife". No amount of dissonant voices would dissuade her, and it seemed like she had a pivot for every single opinion thrown her way. Homura arrived back in the middle of it and was brought on to mediate, in lieu of wanting a date of his own. He made the mistake of suggesting they _all_ go with him, at the same time, to which Tsukiumi objected while the rest immediately began fussing over where they should go and what day and what activities were available. Once the "sharing is caring" plan was nixed, and with Homura on hand to talk down Tsukiumi, the activities provided a fair and balanced calendar for picking days, and an unbiased way of determining the order.

Tsukiumi got lucky and found a screening of some highbrow black-and-white film at a culture club in town, with free admission and all. Its was named _La Belle et la Bête._ Despite a title like that, and every attempt to talk her out of it, Tsukiumi insisted on going.

Her decision, she assured them, was purely one of cultural merit. It had nothing to do with the fact the film was being screened that very evening. Besides that, there was one other thing the blonde _insisted_ upon.

"Aww," Kazehana bemoaned. "You really wanna do this, Tsukiumi?"

"Absolutely!" said the blonde. "There is to be no untoward, illicit or promiscuous advantage taken of Minato whilst we have him. I'll not object to thine ideas, so long as thou abidest by a simple demand!"

"But there's more of us than you!" Ku squeaked. "Who put you in charge?"

"'Tis no concern of thine, brat; be glad I loan my husband at all."

"Why don't you just ask Minato?" Homura suggested.

"That's a good idea," said Musubi.

"Yes," said Tsukiumi, a confident smirk gracing her lips. "Let us."

The sextet returned downstairs to find Kagedansu having arrived home, unmarked by his battles underground and giving Minato a talk of his own.

"-so the sledge caught you sleeping. So what? That never grounded Goldb-… Well, it never stopped St-…" The Sekirei seemed like he was constantly being reminded of disheartening events, if his expression was anything to go by. "The point is, sometimes you take a shot to the face. You wanna get up, or stay down, it's your decision."

Matsu decided to _not_ mention Namiji's fate; Minato was starting to perk up again. "Say, Mina-tan, we need your opinion."

Minato leaned back, resting on arm on the seat back of the couch. "On what?"

"Wilt thou forgo coitus whilst out on our dates?" Tsukiumi asked.

If Minato's brain had heartbeat, it would've flatlined.

"… Huh?"

Five voices all tried to explain what was going on, resulting in a crescendo of cacophonic screeching. What followed were those cacophonies turning on each other and arguing over who would tell him, back and forth like a five-ended seesaw. Homura, remaining detached from it all, was the only one who noticed Kagedansu loop an arm around Minato's head (presumably so the kid could hear) and started whispering to him. The Fire Sekirei was far more intrigued by this than the repetitions of "No, _I'll_ explain", so took matters into his own hands.

 _FWOOSH!_

Like a master surgeon, Homura's tool cut nothing but what he willed it to. The floor, wall, ceiling, door frame, planter, phone, staircase, couch, throw rug, table, TV, windows, cabinet, clothes and skin all went untouched by the fire.

What it _did_ touch, however, were the ends of hairs, sitting upon five heads who'd gone dead silent.

"-game the game."

"You really think so?" Minato muttered, unaware he was the only one talking.

"No time like the present, man," Kagedansu assured him, then slapped him on the back before getting up and leaving.

"What did you say, Kagedansu?" Homura called.

"Ask Minato!" the Sekirei called back.

All eyes naturally went on the Ashikabi, who twitched.

"I- um… Kagedansu said-" Now that twitchy anxiety melted away, replaced by calm, calculated composure. "He said I should get you guys to agree. Either you all have your way, or nobody does."

"Oh, we _know_ what we want, Mina-kun." Kazehana stretched her arms over her head, noting the shift in her husband's eyes. "The only person who wants different is Tsukiumi."

Those eyes now looked at the blonde. "So, what do _you_ want, Tsukiumi?"

"A word," she replied, "a word of oath that we shan't make advances on thee."

"Oooh, but it's the one chance we'll get to do this!" Kazehana laid her hands on Tsukiumi's shoulders, Tsukiumi going stiff at the sudden contact. "C'mon, Tsukiumi, be flexible!"

From the way her hair began roiling like serpents, Minato decided a step backwards was in order.

" _I_. _**am.**_ ' _Flexible'._ " There was an audible _Smack!_ as Tsukiumi swatted Kazehana's hands away. "And I shall give no more!"

Minato shrugged. "So, you guys wanna go out with me or not?"

The peanut gallery began a room-wide study of various objects, tapping their toes or drumming their fingers on their crossed arms, before finally, and begrudging, muttering a "Yes".

"Well?" Minato crossed his arms, waiting. One by one, the promises came.

"I won't touch your pants, Mina-kun..."

"Me neither..."

"Big brother's pants'll stay on."

That left one, whom Minato addressed. "Matsu?"

"Ngh, fine! Like Miya would even _let_ me!" the redhead huffed. "I'm taking a rain check on our date, though, since I can't go outside!"

"Ha! Thou art cowed, and victory mine!" Tsukiumi wasted no time in celebrating, grabbing Minato and pulling him out the front door.

"Hey, wait!" Minato called, though his erstwhile wife was right in front of him. "Where are we going?"

"To enrich thy palette," Tsukiumi replied, "with culture and substance."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Children believe what we tell them. They have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this will cause the beast shame when a young maiden takes up residence in his home. They believe a thousand other simple things. I ask of you a little of this childlike simplicity, and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood's open sesame: "Once upon a time..."_

Already, Minato could tell he was in for a loooong watch. The lack of color didn't help, either. Or the fact he had no idea if the acting was good or bad, since he was reading everyone's lines along with them, albeit in English and at the bottom of the screen. Everyone was bland as cardboard and maybe he'd seen one too many pulse-pounding anime in his time, but the camera could _not_ be bothered to move. The only highlight was the brother, Ludovic, who not only shared a passing resemblance to Kagedansu (if he were French), but also delivered Minato's favorite line in the film:

"May the Devil himself splatter you with dung."

Aside from that, he knew the story: father goes off somewhere, gets caught in a castle, wanders around, makes the mistake of staying there.

Then the titular Bête appeared onscreen and Minato realized he was watching the dour life story of The Cowardly Lion's French cousin. Seriously, _that make-up_.

The young Ashikabi turned to his Sekirei, seated next to him. In the dim light of the room, the shine from the screen filtered through her golden hair and cast a glow about her, one that matched her enthralled captivation. She was positively starstruck, eyes wide as they soaked in every black-and-white frame of French surrealism. Her attire matched that of the other moviegoers: regal-looking, aristocratic, complex in the many facets that made up the whole. In that sense, it was a perfect mirror of Tsukiumi herself, a complex woman in her own right, who despite her bluster had fallen for the same hapless boy as four other ladies. To this day, he still found it interesting, considering her arrogant start down the road to winging, Minato himself only chasing her to guarantee the safety of his other Sekirei. It had less to do with her personally, and more the whole "Ashikabi are some creatively elaborate insult" belief.

In that sense, maybe that's what she'd sensed about him, why she'd been so resistant to wing herself on him: because he himself didn't believe in her, or himself, at the time of their first meeting. It was only after more encounters with her, more dreams spent by her side, that he'd truly started to fall for her. Oh, he'd been enamoured, sure (with looks like hers, who wouldn't be?), but the thought hardly if ever crossed his mind to pursue her romantically. She told him she'd chased Haihane, that day at the docks, because she'd been curious as to what the Discipline Squad had been up to. She stayed, however, because the rules were being broken, even though he never wanted help. Even _he_ didn't think he'd been worth the trouble, not to his own Sekirei, certainly not towards an unwinged woman.

But the thought never occurred to him before: if she hated Ashikabis so much at that time, then why would she care how the rules applied to them? To that end, if she was so steadfast about not being "violated" prior to him winging her, why had his only punishment for his accidental motorboating been a slap? A slap to the face, sure, but she could've done a lot worse if she'd wanted to.

But she hadn't…

Maybe, contrary to their first encounter, she'd sensed something else in him, confirmed when he'd taken that dive to save her from the collapsing roof. Thinking back, Minato couldn't say why he'd done it; it just seemed like a good idea at the time. Some spark of inspiration had compelled him to take the hit for her

Come to think of it, he'd had similar thoughts in the catacombs of the Second Match, about dates and Sekirei and happiness. Huh.

"Minato." Her voice brought him out of his reverie, making him realize he'd been staring and that she was sporting a slight blush.

"Wh- Yeah?"

A finger raised, a gaze averted. "The film… Thou canst not watch whilst looking hither."

Dumbly nodding, he swiveled his head and brain back on board the French Express, if the train had derailed yet still kept on chugging.

Then again, given the woman who'd brought him here, maybe he should look a little _beyond_ the trappings, and hand-candelabras.

…

Nearly an hour later, and he still wasn't getting it. Walking out of the culture club, at least Tsukiumi had the foresight to have dinner with him. On the other hand, maybe she'd been looking to nix that excuse, lest he use it for an escape.

Night had fallen on Neo Tokyo, cloudless sky showing the full moon and countless stars. And he, a random stranger to everyone he passed, arm-in-arm with the most beautiful woman on the sidewalks tonight. Her posture was as stoic as ever, even as her arm stayed inseparably linked to his own, her gaze cast ahead and reassured by his touch.

Touch…

In his French-cooked stupor, Minato remembered the advice Kagedansu had given him earlier that day.

 _See, another thing about games is that if you set the right rules, no matter how it goes, you'll still win. All depends on what you want out it. This right here? Perfect time to try a little cheating without cheating. I know that you know what they really want, even Tsukiumi. Cases like this, don't try and play the game,_ game _the game._

Oh, that's right: he'd had a plan, in fact he _still_ had a plan, and now it was time to put it in motion.

"So, what now, Tsukiumi?" he asked.

"Tis obvious, is it not?" she replied. "Much as I am loathe to do so, we hath accomplished all we set out to do, so now a return is in order."

"Loathe to do, huh?" he said. "So let's do something else. Maybe a few drinks?"

"Nay, I pride my faculties, and my sobriety. Alcohol hath no place on my mind."

"Okay, well..." Pause for the sake of the act, like he didn't know _exactly_ where he was going with this. "What would _you_ want to do?"

She hesitated, still walking, before looking away and speaking up. "I am content."

"It's okay, Tsukiumi. Here." He laid on hand over her eyes, to which she quickly shook her head free.

"Cease, husband. Awareness doth stem from sobriety; what point is there in blinding me?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"And thou canst not surprise whilst in possession of my sight?"

"Uh… Sort of, I think?"

"Attempt then, husband. I've faith in thy judgement."

Yet she'd still dragged him to that 90-minute nap called a "movie". Oh well, no one batted a thousand forever. Taking out his phone, and making sure Tsukiumi wouldn't see what he was doing, he began typing in a few things into the internet search engine. Scrolling through the results, he found one he liked, and was nearby. Tsukiumi didn't question him when he stepped in front of her, arms still linked, and guided her around a corner instead of across the street, like the route home was supposed to go.

"Hey, Tsukiumi, how's your MBI allowance?" Minato asked.

"'Tis well, if thou doth desire something."

 _Well, there's definitely_ something _I want…_

Nearing their destination, Minato passed a shop and spotted something inside that brought the list up to two.

"Minato!" Tsukiumi was baffled as to why he'd go… Well, why he'd go into a place as reputably trashy as this. Every square space was an altar to debauchery, a grand temple to every manner of hedonism that required naught but two (or more) people to indulge in. Thankfully, her husband was not long, though her suspicions were irked when he exited with a bag.

"Okay!" he panted, out of breath from sprinting. "Let's keep going."

"Pray tell, where may that be?"

"You told me to surprise you, remember? Which reminds me: can I borrow your MBI card for a sec?"

Now The Water Sekirei was _certain_ something was afoot, but complied nonetheless. Her husband continued to fiddle with his phone, Tsukiumi declining to eavesdrop on his activities. Whatever he was looking at, she was certain it was admissible in public. At least, she hoped so.

"Thanks," said Minato. "Here's your card back."

"I'll only hold my queries for a while longer. Thou _dost_ realize that I do this as thy wife, yes?"

"I do," said Minato, and those two words cost Tsukiumi her voice. She wouldn't find it again until Minato stopped at their mystery destination, a somewhat tall building with smooth white outer walls. A sign out front had listed rates for "Rest" and "Stay".

"Mi-!" Tsukiumi nearly choked in shock as her husband led her inside. "Minato! What the devil art thou thinking, bringing _me_ to a place of ill repute?!"

"Well, I figured, since there's no time limit set on how long we can be out together-"

"I sought to be first that I may lay the foundations!" Tsukiumi protested. "If thou thinkest of… Of…!"

"Look, we don't have to do that," said Minato, even as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, taking the cash injection he'd given his phone's on-memory debit card and siphoning it into the selection machine in front of him. "I know you hate sharing me, so how about we sleep together for just one night? It doesn't have to be anything more than that. Places like this have a cheaper rate."

"Hmph! Very well then." Tsukiumi pivoted on her heel and approached the nearby elevator, her husband joining her momentarily. "I'll hold myself to the promise made."

A short ride up and they were at their room. It was a humble little place, small and intimate, with a fish tank in front of the circle-shaped window to cast oscillating crests of light upon the floor. A bed sat against the wall, opposite a full-body mirror, and between the two was a well-furnished couch. A small bathroom dwelled in the far corner, beside the mirror. The room almost resembled that of a normal hotel, were it not for the bowl that sat upon the bed's side table.

A bowl filled with packages of small, ring-shaped objects sealed in foil.

Tsukiumi swallowed. O mischief, thou wert swift to enter in the thoughts of desperate wives! Quick to turn away-

To see her husband disrobing down to his boxer shorts.

The Water Sekirei nearly squeaked, a hand shooting up to stifle her mouth. Minato went about like nothing was wrong, his pants at his ankles, his shirt already discarded, and that damnable bag sitting beside him. Tsukiumi felt for fabled Pandora, curious to know what lay within, but also knew that once open, the imps of her Box would ne'er be caught again.

Minato noticed her gawking, and shrugged. "What? We're not going to sleep fully-clothed, are we?"

Tsukiumi slammed her eyes shut, her mind righting itself immediately. "Yes. Yes, thou speakest true."

"Here, let me help you." Minato was now right in front of her, the lower part of his chest lightly pressed against her well-kempt bosom. Shirtless, his warm skin faintly brushing against the round softness of her own, her husband's arms encircled her. Tsukiumi's hands were at her sides, ready to push him away if he went to embrace or tempt her, but to his credit, he did not. She felt his hands on her back, searching for her zipper, brushing her long golden hair away so it wouldn't catch on the clasp as he drew it down.

Tsukiumi felt the cool air on her shoulders clash with the warmth of Minato's hands as he spread her dress, parting it further, that it may slide down her hourglass figure (for which she was immeasurably proud of). Her under dress, panties, boots and leggings remained, but how many petals did he wish to pluck from her precious flower?

The boots were first, clasps off and gently eased from her legs, one at a time. She heard her husband sniffing the air; had she been found out? The way his hand stroked the back of her leg pushed her nerves ever-closer to her limit, but she clenched her teeth and vowed to stand fast. Her white under dress was next, her breasts shaking a little as they were uncovered. Now topless, Tsukiumi's hands vainly tried to preserve her modesty. All they succeeded in doing was pushing up her breasts, unwittingly reminding her husband of how fertile she looked.

"Something wrong?" Minato asked. "I've seen you with a lot less on than this."

"Yes, well..." She averted her gaze, pulling a lock of her hair in front of her blushing face. His hands came to her shoulders again, slowly walking her back towards the bed. Their legs met the mattress at the same time, Tsukiumi sitting down while Minato slowly laid back, one hand sliding off her far side.

"I understand, Tsukiumi," he said. "Let's just have a good sleep, okay?"

"...Yes." Laying a hand atop his own, she reclined, her back to him as he slipped an arm around her waist, hugging her tightly. "Though… Frankly..."

She felt the bed shift behind her, and heard her husband's voice above her head. "Frankly what?"

She tensed, afraid of what might be unleashed with what she said next. "I'd feel less shameful in the nude."

Right on cue, Minato hooked his fingers into… Her leggings? Yes, it seemed her husband was less carnal than she'd thought, given his recent testosterone-powered training. His thumb slipped into the lip of the black nylon, pulling it open that he could wriggle it off of her. Upon casting it aside, he found cooperation with Tsukiumi raising her leg, allowing him to mirror his previous act. That left only her panties.

"Uh, Tsukiumi? I can't exactly do this lying down."

Her heart all aflutter, The Water Sekirei swung her legs out of bed and stood. Minato followed, standing behind her, curling his fingers around her waistband, but then stopped. The hair on his head tickled her buttock as he turned his head, twice once he looked back. Silence followed, save his footsteps.

"Tsukiumi?"

He called from the window. Her husband stood adjacent to the nebulous lights cast on the floor, his hand gesturing for her to join him. As soon as she entered the swirling spotlight, he knelt beside her, looking up at her. She felt like Aphrodite of Milos, with Minato watching as her Alexandros, his beautiful woman still as stone while he gently drew her panties down her legs. His touch was becoming unbearable, the temptation welling up inside of her. She desperately prayed to whichever god would listen that he not notice how amorous she was.

Her prayer went unanswered, for the instant Minato stood, he drew his hands up her stomach and cupped her breasts.

"Ah!" Looking down, she watched as his hands began fondling her, pressing and squeezing her sensitive bosom. "My husband, you musn't- Mmh!"

Her lip curled in, lest she kiss him and lose control of herself. His lips were dangerously close to her own, brushing up against her neck, leaving a tingling sensation as they ascended towards her mouth. She could feel the heat emanating from his boxer shorts, his pelvis pressed to her naked ass.

"Why not?" he murmured, a sudden squeeze of her breasts forcing a whimper from her throat.

"Because- ah! … Becau- because-" Her voice was trembling, the tremors spiking whenever his fingers would shoot a little harder into her plush milk-amphoras. " _No!_ "

She tore away, forcing his hands off of her and throwing a finger in his face. "I shall not be made to break my word! Pain me as it may, if keeping thee out of rivals' hands demands sacrifice, then 'tis a lamb I shall have to slaughter!"

 _Now_ he caught her, mouth-to-mouth, Tsukiumi collapsing into his arms as her ocean-blue wings lit bathed the room in light. Her arms snatched him up, crushing them both to each other, even while one struggled to get a hold of herself. Pulling apart, Tsukiumi was out of breath, panting from the loss of air and the sudden rush.

Minato laid a hand on her cheek, soaking in the heat from her blush. "I remember what you said. You agreed not to ask me, or try to get me in bed, or anything like that." He smiled, leaning in to kiss her again.

"I cannot accept thee," she said, her index finger intercepting his lips. "I'll not share thee, Minato, nor forfeit a victory hard-fought."

His smile vanished. "What's the point of denying everyone else if you can't be happy yourself? Does it really bother you that much, me being with the others?"

Tsukiumi nearly gagged. "To be with-… At the same time-"

"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Minato sighed. "I mean, sleeping with them. One at a time, all to-" He quickly buttoned his lip, nearly cringing himself at the thought of not one but _three_ hyper-sexual women clamoring for his… Well...

"It does," said Tsukiumi, hanging her head while clasping her arms beneath her chest. "I… I am a selfish wife, Minato. 'Tis not a point of pride, but a point of fact. I want thee, all to myself, and… And I..."

He could tell: what he was about to hear was a confession. The way her beautiful blue eyes drifted up to gaze into his own, hearkening back to their first time in Miya's bath, there was no mistaking it.

"I'll not be one amongst many," she finally admitted. "No matter the cost."

Of all the reactions she'd expected, and all the ways she expected him to reply, what came out of his mouth was not among them.

"I have just the thing, as a matter of fact."

Now he strode over to where their discarded clothes lay, along with that mysterious bag. Opening it up, he lifted some parcel of attire, hung on a plastic hanger, clinking against a second piece.

"Let me see how this looks on you," he said.

She closed her eyes and allowed him to dress her in it. It had the trappings of a triangle bikini and swimsuit bottom, but felt remarkably more ventilated than normal. It was almost like the triangle pads of spandex were absent, nearly undetectable, even to her sensitized Sekirei skin.

His hands on her shoulders once more, he walked her across the room and gave the signal to open them. She found herself standing in front of the room's large mirror. As expected, his parcel _was_ a bikini and panties pairing.

Or rather, the outline of one.

"Agh! What trappings of debauchery be _these?!_ "

"The label called it a 'crotchless bikini'," said Minato. "What do you think?"

"I think I'd prefer nothing at all!" She spun around, scolding mode fully engaged, even in such dim lighting. "What possessed the to buy this?!"

"I thought it would look great on you."

For the third time that evening, Tsukiumi was left speechless. Oh, but how she tried.

"Thou-… This would-..." Despite the shadows of the room, her blush was clear as day. "This was meant for me?"

"And no one else," he declared.

Cheeks still red as a rose, Tsukiumi pivoted her hips and raised her arm, posing for him like a swimsuit model. "Doth it meet thy preconceptions?"

Lowering his face to stare at her chest, Minato's hands found their way home again. "To be honest, it's _way_ beyond how I imagined it." He looked up at her, while she gazed down past her breasts at him. "I know none of the others would look _this_ good."

Her eyes were sparkling at his compliments, as he rose for a second attempt at the Dance.

"I cannot accept thy advances," said Tsukiumi, weakly trying to push him away again. "For-"

"For a victory hard-fought, I know," he said, before leaning in close to her ear. "You wanna know something I learned since this crazy Plan started?"

She felt her fingers on her chin, tipping her head back so her full-bodied lips were aligned with his own.

"Victory's measured in what we gain, not what we lose." That same hand of his now gently brushed back her hair. "So far, I've had dinner, a full evening with you, and an amazing view of you in that swimsuit. And you've got an amazing body, a fantastic swimsuit, and an evening alone with me. But there's one more thing I want, before I can say I won tonight."

He leaned in close to her ear, so close she could feel her own breath washing back from against his face. It was so faint, so very faint, but before Minato spoke, she thought she heard her husband's voice, whispering in the back of her head.

 _Game the game._

What he said next made everything clear.

"And what I want... _I'm_ asking _you_ for it _._ "

The next thing either of them knew, they were on the bed, Tsukiumi and Minato making out like it was going out of style. Her stomach was humping his own and his boxers had somehow been left behind, his hands slipping beneath the strings of her swimwear to fondle her furiously. She felt him brush up against her and paused for only enough time to align themselves. Slamming her hips down, Tsukiumi screamed her answer.

" _YYYEEESS!_ "

His hands were inseparable from her breasts, the soft flesh squishing between his fingers and jiggling with every wild jolt. She felt like they might pop from the pressure, but lo how it felt, threatening to cripple her mind in a wash of orgasmic ecstasy. Her head flew back, her hair flopping in time with her tits and ass, guttural grunts accompanying every hip-to-hip-on collision. She was already losing control, pleasure winding up in her guts, her legs clenching around his hips in primal excitement. One of his hands left her breasts, sparking just enough movement for her to snatch it and force it back upon herself.

"Tsukiumi, please!" Minato begged. "Let me turn on a light!"

"Keep… Thy hands... To thy _WIFE!_ "

What little self-control remained was reaching its limit, Tsukiumi's fingers crushing her husband's wrists as she sent his hands deeper and deeper into her tit-flesh, the bed starting to creak from the strength of his pistoning thrusts.

Minato bolted upright. "In that case-!"

Her legs crossed behind him as he barreled face-first into her chest, burrowing his nose deep into her cleavage. In her orgasmic stupor, she felt their bodies leave the bed. A glowing haze was cast on her vision, blurring the sight of her husband.

"I want to look at you!" he shouted, looming above her with her back against the carpet, furiously pleasuring her. "You're so beautiful, Tsukiumi!"

"I am!" she screamed. "Thy chosen woman to wear thy filthy attire! Naught but me! THY ONE AND ONLY WIFE! _KISS ME, MINATO!_ "

He did without a second's hesitation, their dual climaxes hitting hard.

A tempest of pleasure, achingly missed in the days since last it came, roared forth. This time, though, there was no reason to keep quiet.

"AAAA _AAAAA_ _ **AAAAAAH! YES! YES! YYYE-EEESSS! MINATOOO!**_ "

Her buds got pinched, sending her back arching so hard she left the floor, balanced on her head and ass, her husband refusing to let her breasts hang free. She screamed so hard that her voice broke, leaving her silent but for a few whistling squeaks.

When it was over she collapsed, exhausted, panting, still twitching as her husband refused to let up.

"Minato..." she croaked weakly. "Respite… A minute's respite..."

"Alright," he huffed, separating from all her parts. She lay her head back on the carpet, staring up at the ceiling, her vision starting to return to normal. She realized the haze had in fact been the moonlight cast from the window. Warily, she tried to sit up, propping her elbows beneath her for support. Beneath her buttocks, the carpet has become absolutely soaked; what with, she couldn't say. Her limbs splayed out around her, aiding her rise, that is until…

"You look rested to me," said Minato, before he pounced back in the fray and started devouring her breasts yet again. His hands attacked from the sides and squeezed them furiously, forcing more of her into the frenzied rudder that his tongue had become. Tsukiumi could only manage one thought before the haze settled back on her thoughts.

 _Thank thee, Minato, that I am forever wife among many._


	64. Rounding Third and Headed for Home

**Author's response to:**

 _Earth Dragon Arnighte_ (Ch 53 review): Given Tsukiumi's more conservative character in regards to sex, that would require some careful planning on my part, lest I compromise her character. If enough people request a Tsukiumi-Minato-Kazehana threesome, I'll write one, but the requests must begin _now_. This isn't something that can just slide in from out of nowhere on a whim, unlike Minato's d-

 _pwashington:_ I know of Overlord. I know it has some hot ladies in it, just from their character designs, but I'm not sure if it's an anime I could get behind. I'm very picky about what shows I watch. As for writing lemons, well, we'll soon find out if I really _do_ have a knack for it, or if the previous chapter was just a bout of inspiration. If I'm being honest, the only lemon in this fic I can actually stand behind, besides the one last chapter, is the one from Chapter 38.

* * *

 **Rounding Third and Heading for Home**

Beneath the covers, their bodies entangled each other. Her slender leg was draped over his form, pulling them close, flesh upon flesh, sharing heat as if they were one. Tsukumi's bosom cushioned the points of Minato's collarbones; his chin nested in the valley of her cleavage. His hair tickled the underside of her jaw, her soft breaths like the winds of the Serengeti.

 _My beloved Ashikabi..._

It was this last sensation which Minato first became aware of, not remembering the source of plush cushioning against his jaw. It was only after he tilted his head down, drawing his hair against Tsukiumi's neck, that The Water Sekirei began to stir.

"Tsukiumi," he murmured, "it's morning."

"Mmm, no..." she hummed. Her hands drew him closer, proving such a thing to be possible. "Let me have thee a while longer… Thy wife hath not steeled herself for the forthcoming surrender..."

"Oh." Groggy though he was, Minato knew of what she spoke, and had a notion of what to do. "In that case..."

Rolling her on top of him, Minato revelled in the feel of her body even as she dragged her naked breasts across his chest. Her scandalous bikini had been discarded the previous evening, leaving her nude body to bask in her husband's warmth when they'd finally exhausted themselves.

His bloodshot eyes shot open in panic.

"Tsukiumi," he panted, hyperventilating, "last time we- I had a- _You could be-!_ "

"Hush," she murmured, raising a finger to his lips. "Whilst seeing Kagedansu to the hospital, I took time to seek out a tuner, that I might receive proper MBI birth control. Our first child shall wait till after the Plan."

"Oh," sighed her husband, relieved. He then smiled, somewhat teasingly. "I'm glad it didn't go to waste."

Their kiss was tentative at first, but soon gave way to a more passionate one, their tongues greeting each other with a good-morning dance. Minato's hand pressed against her Sekirei crest, a tingle of energy heightening his touch as her blue wings passed through his flesh and pushed back the morning sunlight.

 _Hmmm_ , he thought. _I wonder what this feeling is…_

He paid it little heed, his thoughts focused on his beautiful blonde wife.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How is it?" he asked.

Tsukiumi, fully-clothed and sitting opposite her husband, passed another forkful of eggs between her lips, silently appraising it before giving her verict of, "'Tis… Tolerable."

Minato huffed mirthfully. "I guess that's a start."

"What dost thou mean, 'a start'?" she asked, jabbing her fork at him. "Shouldst thou not aspire to exceptionalism?"

"Sure," he replied. "But something I learned from Kagedansu is to try for 'tolerable' and work my way up."

Tsukiumi was fuming. "That bloated flamingo, having the gall to preach of being tolerated, all while _parading around and corrupting my husband's very thoughts with his-_ "

Minato said nothing, elbow resting on the table while his Sekirei blew her top over his mentor's antics. By the time she got to "under-roasted pork with a half-and-half word bank to match", he was in stitches.

" _ **Wherefore dost thou laugh at me?!**_ "

The Ashikabi snuck a glance at her cleavage, fully on display as she stood leaning over the table. "Nothing. It's just that from the way you talk about him..."

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "And from how colorful you get when insulting him, sometimes I feel like I'm bonded to his older sister."

Strangely, Tsukiumi clamped up at that, her blue eyes wide and her pupils narrowed. She plopped her firm behind back in her seat at mach speed.

"I am not," she stated.

"I never said you were."

" _Then take heed: never do so!_ " she squawked. "The thought of being blood-kin to that… That-!"

"I heard," laughed Minato.

She blushed a little. "Yes, well, my skill with words doth elevate me from him."

"I'll tell him you said that."

" _Thou shalt do no such thing!_ "

Tsukiumi's paranoia about Kagedansu aside, their breakfast was a pleasant one. The food was good and their talk managed to steer clear of the topic of bedroom antics, though each were still thinking of the absolutely _amazing_ performance the other had put on not ten hours prior. Minato was careful to avoid talking about the tab, for he had an ace that he wanted to play, and wasn't about to tip his hand until the check finally came.

"Ahh, 'twas a hearty meal. Now for the tab."

Minato stood, hand in his back pocket. "I'll pay this time."

"Nonsense!" said Tsukiumi, pulling out her black MBI card. "Mine allowance is free-flowing and effortless; _I_ shall pay."

Like she were a beautiful naiad, Minato picked her up by her slender waist and sat her on the table, speaking before she could protest.

"Tsukiumi," he said, in a tone that would brook no argument, "this is the first chance I've ever had to spoil you, and I'm not going to let you ruin it by paying for your own breakfast."

Her glare softened at his words. She ran a hand through his hair. "And I shalt not neglect my duty as a wife by decimating my husband's wallet."

He hadn't expected that. What he'd thought would be a knockout blow turned into a seesaw of chivalrous charity. Oh, he _tried_ to argue his case, but as Tsukiumi was the one whose card siphoned money from a never-ending cash flow, _logos_ was not on his side for this bout.

As a consolation, through sheer tenacity and stubbornness, he managed to pay for _her_ meal, and she his. The waiter seemed more judgmental of Minato's tab than Tsukiumi's, even though his was the smaller of the two.

Walking back, Minato made sure to swing by that cozy little alley, to challenge Tsukiumi for the Tongue Wrestling Federation championship, Iron Man stipulations. After a solid half-hour of groping, lifting, moaning and body scissoring, the bout was declared a no-contest, with both contestants fully-clothed and out of breath.

They tried a rematch, Minato going for a cheap shot by slipping his hand into Tsukiumi's dress and squeezing her ripened melon. Her resulting jolt caused her to crumple before him, her squeal of delighted surprise spurring him to pin her to the wall.

Pulling their mouths apart, panting heavily, Tsukiumi smiled. "Thy training hath wrought a _few_ things I like."

"Well, that was kind of the point," he said, then began to kiss her again.

Tsukiumi had to go the rest of the way home through the skies, Minato's legs weakened from a night of lovemaking and forty-five minutes of standing-up "grappling". Not as pleasant as a walk, but romantic in its own way. No matter how many times he did it, soaring through the sky with a beautiful woman holding him never dulled. Humans had always dreamed of flying; Minato no longer needed to.

They'd entered the front gate of Maison Izumo when Minato made a grave miscalculation. "I'm back!"

"Oh Minato!"

 _WHAM!_

Musubi rocketed out the front door and practically gored him, knocking him clear off his feet and onto the grass. He didn't even try to struggle as the excitable Sekirei straddled his torso and hugged his head.

" _Thou couldst at least-!_ Urgh..." Tsukiumi gave up. Kazehana was hard enough to deal with; Musubi was nigh impossible.

Rubbing his cheek like an affectionate cat, Musubi said nothing, humming happily atop her Ashikabi.

Minato chortled. "I guess you missed me?"

"M-hm!" Musubi kissed him on the cheek and looked down into his eyes. "I couldn't sleep without you, Minato."

 _Well, you won't have to tonight,_ thought the former ronin. Tsukiumi started on her way inside, and turned to scowl at him, her eyes like shivs.

Minato audibly gulped. The last thing he needed was Tsukiumi of all people becoming a mind reader. To assuage his fear, he ran a hand through Musubi's brown hair.

"I guess I'll have to make it up to you some time," he said.

"Today!"

"What?"

The brunette nodded. "You were planning to date each of us, and I know just what I want to do with you!"

"… Can I go inside, first?"

"Sure," said Musubi, climbing off before helping him to his feet. She then framed his face with her gloved hands and kissed him on the lips. "Kagedansu said he wanted to talk to you, by the way."

"Well, Kagedansu can wait," Minato replied, taking her by the hand and leading her inside. "I just want to sit down for a while."

Then came the second ambush.

Lying in wait next to the door frame was Kazehana, who pounced the instant Minato set foot inside. However, he quickly let go of Musubi and deflected Kazehana's hands, reversing her grab into a bear hug before pinning her to the floor beneath him.

Kazehana giggled. "Little more than what I expected, Mina-kun."

"Since when has that been a problem?" he shot back.

It wasn't, from how hungrily she growled while sloppily kissing him. While grabbing a hefty handful of her goodies, Minato ceased his aggressive war with her tongue and opened his eyes. Squeezing her left boob again, The Wind Sekirei still exploring his mouth, he thought she felt a little…

" _RAAAAGH!_ "

The sound of exploding water came from upstairs, startling the horizontal couple. Fearing for someone's safety (they didn't yet know who), the two along with Musubi raced up to see what all the fuss was about. They quickly spotted Tsukiumi standing in the hallway, arm oustretched into Kagedansu's room, stuttering to herself.

"An… Andr… Mina-to..."

Upon arriving, they found the Shadow Sekirei in question dangling out the open window, his legs hooked over the sill. Ku was there, too, pulling on his knee to no avail. His meaty arm rose and gripped the inside of the frame to haul the rest of himself back inside, his face doused and his two-centimeter hair dripped with water.

Kazehana found the sight comical. "What happened here?" she asked, hand on her hip.

"Tsukiumi-sama hates gold dust!" Ku piped up. "Kagedansu just wanted to make Big Brother look pretty!"

There was a collective "Huh?" from The Green Girl's words, before Kagedansu took over. Wiping his face off, he explained.

"Tsukiumi was up here and mentioned how I should stop feeding Minato Slim Jims, because he's already macho enough for her liking," said the Shadow Sekirei. Tsukiumi was so catatonic, she couldn't even blush or protest when Kazehana gave her a snidely teasing smirk.

"So _I_ said," Kagedansu continued, pointing at Minato, "that if she didn't like Macho Man, I could always turn this guy into Goldust."

"Gold dust?" Musubi repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, funny story," said Kagedansu, a grin beginning to form on his lips. "Tsukiumi asked me that exact same question, to which _I_ summed him up, in the shortest way possible, as..."

Kagedansu's eyes scrunched shut; he could barely contain himself for what he said next.

"'Androgynous black-and-gold sex pest'."

It was a good thing he spoke English for that, because if Ku heard him say that, there would be trouble.

" _WHAAA?!_ " Minato must've been holding an anvil with his teeth, from how hard his jaw hit the floor.

"Oo yeah, one o' the greates _ **t**_!" rasped Kagedansu, full-bore laughing as he showed them the image on his laptop. " _Diggit!_ "

And what a sight it was: blonde wig that went down to the chest, gold face paint, golden jumpsuit, black lipstick, and a pucker-lipped look that practically _screamed_ the phrase "Hey sailor..." No wonder Tsukiumi flipped.

Aghast as they were, no one had time to stop Ku before she got a good look at the image. "He's weird."

"Correction," said Kagedansu, "he's 'bizarre'."

"Who cares?!" Ku protested. "I say he's weird!"

"Well _he_ says that he's bizarre, so _there!_ " Kagedansu shot back, jabbing a finger at the girl that barely came up to his waist. Said girl folded her tiny little arms and stuck her tongue at him, prompting Kagedansu to do the same.

"I think we know who's the _real_ bizarre one," said Matsu, poking her head in from her own room.

"B-But..." The shellshock with Minato was still very much present. "You want me… To-"

"Dress in a jumpsuit, wear a wig, buy a ball gag and get implants?"

And Tsukiumi passed out.

"Ha! Nah." Kagedansu waved Minato off. "Man's gotta be super-confident to pull off Goldust, and I don't think you're there yet."

Minato sighed, utterly relieved. "Maybe," he said, eyeing Musubi next to him. Specifically, her well-rounded bust. "Give me a minute, Musubi."

He squatted down and lifted Tsukiumi into his arms. Watching her head on his way out the door, he carried her down to her room and slipped inside, depositing her on her bedroll. Kazehana and Musubi watching, he stroked her cheek and gave her a kiss on the lips. She came around enough to open her mouth, which was his signal to slip a hand in her dress and fondle her a little.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

Kazehana, meanwhile, caught Kagedansu on his way to the bathroom. She followed him to the door, leaning on the frame and staring at him. He took notice while in the middle of running hands through his too-long, two-centimeter blonde hair.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," Kazehana replied wistfully, flashing him a smile. "I just wanted to say thanks. You're a miracle worker."

He wrinkled his nose at that, his voice affecting a tone so cartoonishly snooty, all he was missing was a monocle. "Excuse me, but that is 'magic man' to you, as I do not appreciate your _uncouth_ and _pedestrian_ labels for my art, thank-you-very-much."

"You're welcome," she said, chuckling. For a guy who'd lost his Ashikabi, he'd been holding up pretty well. Amazingly, even.

"Hey, Kazehana!" Matsu's voice called her from down the hall. "C'mere!"

"Need something?" asked The Wind Sekirei, entering Matsu's room to find Minato there, next to a pair of pink panties on the floor.

The Shame Sekirei had that glint in her eye. "We're going to give Mina-tan a course on anatomy."

Kazehana's chest shook as she giggled lustily, watching her husband's eyes widen. "A _woman's_ anatomy, to be exact."

"W-Wait!" he protested. "If Miya-"

Matsu's clothed cleavage cut him off.

"Miya's gone for at least an hour," she breathed hotly, eyeing Kazehana as the latter came up to sandwich Minato from behind. "That's fifty more minutes than we'll need."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There you are, Minato!" Musubi exclaimed, standing over her Ashikabi. He lay in her shadow, the light from the hall cast into the dark of Matsu's room. Now _two_ pairs of panties lay on the floor, one pink, the other deep blue. Matsu sat against Kazehana's chest, panting heavily, the musk of sweat and something else hanging in the air. Matsu's tongue lolled out of her mouth, her glasses sitting crooked on her face. A face that, along with Kazehana's, was flushed red.

Minato groaned, fully-clothed and head laying sideways on a pillow, his half-focused eyes wandering up to look at Musubi. The Sekirei was jittery with excitement, tapping her heels like she were jogging in place. The knuckles in her thumbs knocked together, bouncing in time with her breasts. That was where his eyes stopped.

"I looked all over for you!" proclaimed the fist-type. "I heard you guys were going to eat without me, but I wanted to make sure we were all set for our date tonight! You weren't at the bakery, or MOS Burger, or any of the restaurants, and Matsu never picked up the phone-"

"Musubi?" Matsu panted. "I can't leave the Inn, remember?"

"Actually, it's called Maison Izumo," Musubi pointed out, before grabbing Minato by the wrist. "Come on, Minato, we don't want to miss the opening pitch!"

"P… Pitch?" He sounded numb, like his tongue and jaw had been overworked or water-logged. "Wai, uh nee'da brush."

"Brush?" Musubi looked him over. "But you're hair's always been messy."

She then leaned in and smelled his breath. "Oh, okay. But don't be too long, Minato!"

While her Ashikabi excused himself, Musubi stood outside the bathroom. Hands clasped behind her back, she hummed to herself while rocking back and forth on her heels.

That strange smell weighed heavily on her mind. There was something alluring about it, not in a food way, but in a Hametsu way, where she couldn't stop thinking about it for some reason. Well, actually, Hametsu stayed with her because he sounded scary strong and she wanted to fight him. So, she supposed the smell was a… a baseball kind of smell! Yes, that was it: she didn't know _why_ it was so interesting, like how she didn't know why watching people hit a ball and run around a field was so thrilling. If she was playing, then it would be different. She'd have to be a team player and go all-out to win, just like with fighting. Fighting: there was something she loved to watch, even more when humans did it. Sekirei were amazing, but the way humans could punch each other and then walk away with no hard feelings?

"That's the greatest expression of love," she declared out loud. "Martial arts and caged fighting!"

Maybe she should've asked Matsu to get tickets to a fighting match instead, or maybe New Japan Pro Wrestling. Wrestlers were like a Sekirei and Ashikabi, in how much they needed to trust each other to succeed. There were people who said it was all fake and that it didn't matter who won, but the leaps from the corner posts weren't fake. The blood wasn't fake, or the barbed wire, or the light bulbs, or the razor blades, or the live piranhas...

Musubi blinked. Maybe wrestling wasn't like being a Sekirei after all. Or, wait, _was_ it?

"Haaah, okay. I'm ready." Minato stepped out of the bathroom, smelling well-preened and minty fresh. Musubi learned this from the way his tongue tasted.

After her pink wings dissipated, she handed him his ticket. The Giants were playing tonight, in a home game against the Robins, and she couldn't wait to see her favorite team in action.

"Uh, Musubi?" Minato interrupted her happy thoughts. "The game doesn't start for another five hours."

"I know." She beamed at him. "So we have lots of extra time together!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Don't be nervous, Minato!"

Oh he'd gone _waaaay_ beyond "nervous". Right now he was somewhere between pants-wetting and cardiac arrest. Why had he agreed to this? How had Musubi talked him into it? He remembered the word "arcade" and next thing he knew, he was standing over an air hockey table, in line for a Loki-style shave at the neck, and not the Loki from all those mediocre Marvel movies.

As such, the instant Musubi's striker hit the puck, Minato hit the deck like it was 1944.

The clatter of the puck into the goal slot did nothing to reassure him. He lay on the ground, curled up with his hands protecting his precious skull. Any second now, he fully expected that puck to ricochet off a game cabinet and trim the top of his skull like Dr. Frankenstein installing a new brain.

"Um, Minato?" Musubi tentatively stood over him, her fingers hooked in the side of her striker, free hand clasped over her chest. "Your turn to start."

He ignored her, he ignored the air hockey table, he ignored all the funny looks he was getting, he didn't care! Sticking his head up right now would mean the end of him! He could hear it: that puck, flying around the air like a buzz saw, searching from his juicy-looking stem of a neck.

He flinched as he felt that hard-edged piece of plastic press to his… Cheek.

 _...Huh?_

Yes, despite everything he thought he knew about Musubi's competitive streak, the busty brunette had _not_ sent the puck through the metal of the goal slot. She now knelt beside him, poking the side of his face with the puck, before dropping it and standing up.

"...It's okay," she finally said.

Minato finally sat up. "What?"

"It's fine, Minato." Musubi set her striker back on the table. "If you didn't want to play, I wish you had just told me."

He stood, his eyes widening as the breadth of his transgression began to dawn on him. "N-No, that's not it."

"Then what is?!" she protested, whirling around to face him. "You think I'd get out of control, don't you? You think I'm too stupid to know my own strength, right?!"

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Where had all this come from?

Musubi hung her head as she began to cry. "I know I get excited sometimes. And sometimes I punch too much or try to hard. You know me. _I_ know me. I'm not stupid."

"Then..." He was afraid to ask, afraid of making a bad situation worse. "Why'd you ask me to play air hockey with you?"

She sniffled. "Because… Because after all the time we spent together..."

Her head jerked up, giving him the full view of every drop shed by her eyes. " _I thought you would trust me not to hurt you!_ "

True to her word, when she chucked that striker at his chest, it hurt far less than watching her turn and run, out the door of the arcade before he could even begin an apology.

"Musubi, hold on a second!"

Her eyes squeezed shut, he only caught up in time for her to reach into her gi and throw her crumpled-up baseball ticket at him. She then leapt into the air, the wind from her jump blowing the ticket away and on to the roof of the arcade. Watching her bound off towards the dipping sun, still high in the sky, it was then that Minato recalled a rather obscure adage he'd heard in school around five years prior. "Less isn't more, _more_ is more."

Well, after tracking down the person who'd said that, and the context they'd set it in, he'd learned of another nugget of wisdom from the same person, a world-renowned Swedish guitarist. "There is the right vay, the wrong vay, and the Yng-vay."

At that moment, Minato thought he finally understood what that meant. Even if he didn't, he swore on that day to set a world record for "longest length gone".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana wasn't here.

She'd always been here.

Ever since the day they'd met, the day she'd stumbled upon Minato while running from the Lightning Twins, Kazehana had been with her. When Minato had been in danger from the Hikari, Kazehana had stepped in to save him. When Kuno and Haruka tried to run across the bridge, Kazehana had fought for their freedom. When Musubi had fought that pink-haired girl in the Second Match, even though she ended doing most of the work, Kazehana had come and taken some punches in her stead.

Now, Musubi needed to know.

Musubi had to know: why did Kazehana always had Minato's trust? Why did he look at Kazehana different from how he looked at her? It wasn't because she was less rowdy. Musubi remembered, that time Kazehana had jumped off Maison Izumo's roof and landed on Minato, or the time she'd… She'd…

Musubi couldn't remember those other times. But she couldn't remember any times where she'd hurt Minato, either.

So Musubi had come to this construction site, where Kazehana liked to be alone and drink sake, especially when she was sad. It was like that day when Kagedansu's Ashikabi had disappeared, and Musubi found Kazehana here, ready to fall off the steel beams from how drunk she was. Musubi had stopped her from falling, not because Kazehana was in danger, but because Musubi knew that's what she'd needed.

Now Musubi needed someone like that, but there was nobody here.

So all she could do was cry.

"What did I do?" Musubi sobbed. "I try to make Minato happy, same as everyone else. I-"

It was like a fog around Musubi's mind had been lifted, and all the world around became visible.

"Does Minato think I'm stupid?" How could he?! She fought to protect him from anyone who'd try to hurt him. She winged herself to him the same as the others. She-

dragged him through the air like a flag.

let Karasuba in the house with Matsu there.

emptied Minato's wallet into her belly less than an hour after they met.

never figured out why Minato always looked at Kazehana, Tsukiumi and Matsu differently from her.

She…

realized the truth about herself,

hung her head,

buried her hands in her face,

tuned out the rest of the world,

and bawled her brown eyes dry.

She felt nothing: not the wind on her skin, not the shifting of the steel as it swayed and groaned, not the twinge of fear that wasn't her own.

Cracking open her eyes, Musubi only saw the ground, so far beneath her, the people scurrying around below like ants. Even with her enhanced vision, she couldn't spot Minato anywhere.

Mainly because the thought never occurred to look _up_.

"M-… Musubi?"

His call _finally_ reached her ears, and she was quick to spot him: atop a construction crane, around the middle of the steel arm, clinging to it. The _clang clang clang_ sound looked like it was coming from his knees, knocking against it.

He looked, of all things, slightly embarrassed. "Could you gimme a hand?" he called. "I think I'm stuck."

And, after a moment, she did, hopping over and prying him free, before carrying him back to her spot and sitting him next to her. Then, it was back to sulking. Sulking gave way to weeping when she looked at him, and saw the concern etched into his eyes, concern for _her,_ because of something _he_ thought he did. Musubi sniffled. He was too nice to think that _she_ was to blame.

"Musubi..."

"No don't." She cut him off. "Don't be sorry for anything. It's my fault. _Everything's_ my fault."

"Musubi," he began, trying again, "you're not-"

" _Yes I am!_ " she bawled. "I'm stupid and selfish and never considered that you might be scared by some of the things I do! I'm a Sekirei, so I'm used to everything. But I never considered what it must be like for a human like you to go through Sekirei things!"

Minato swallowed his "but", sensing that this was one of those times when someone didn't want to hear reassurances, they just wanted to be told they were right.

"Well," he said, "you have a point. Since I met Kazehana, and you, I've been in the scariest situations of my life."

Musubi nodded, her cute little face still soaked by sadness.

"But I'm at fault here, too," he continued, looping a hand around her waist and pulling her close, "because I never stopped to think, that maybe the reason you never hurt me was more than just luck."

His other arm joined his first, forming a hug. "I can't be sorry enough."

Tears still leaked from her eyes, even as she wrapped her fingers around his arms. "Me neither, Minato."

In pulling him close, they accidentally leaned too far back, and they _both_ fell of the girder.

Time seemed to slow for the fist-type. After everything, she still messed up, and put her Ashikabi in danger like never before. Beside her, Minato gracefully fell with her, one hand in his pocket. The ground waited for them below, a small matter had she jumped and could cancel out their fall just by catching Minato. But from this high, at the speed that they would land, Musubi knew that a full stop would smash Minato's organs against his own bones, killing him dead. She had to slow him down, _somehow._

Girders whizzed by as time resumed its flow, droplets rising from Minato's widened eyes. Thinking fast, she grabbed Minato in a bear hug and twisted in the air, landing feet-first on a girder. She felt the momentum transfer to her feet, then her thighs, and right as it was passing into her hips, Musubi leaned back like she was doing a German suplex and fell off again, slowed but still picking up speed.

Still wrapped around Minato's waist, Musubi began doing somersaults in the air, the uneven pocket slowing them a little more. Winding her way to an adjacent side, she planted the soles of her feet on another girder, carefully pushing back to slow them more, hoping the metal wouldn't bend and crumple the whole structure on top of them.

The metal creaked, and just like that Musubi slid off again.

The ground was too close for another one. It was now or never.

Letting go and holding Minato above her with her hands, one on his head and the other on the small of his back, Musubi hit the ground. Her limbs flexed like an accordion, compressing to alleviate the pressure and hopefully save her Ashikabi.

Ending with Minato being held less than half a meter off the ground, Musubi was elated to see that his eyes, though a little bloodshot, were still open and looking at her.

"...Thhhanks," he breathed, finally exhaling the air trapped in his lungs.

"You weren't scared?" Musubi asked, allowing him out of her arms and on to his (wobbling) feet.

"Sure I was," said Minato, steadying himself with his free hand. "But I knew you'd save me. You always do."

His other hand, Musubi realized, was still in the pocket of his jeans. "By the way..."

Pulling out the contents, it was a small piece of white paper, with the words "Giants versus Robins" printed across.

"You forgot this."

The next instant saw Minato on the ground, Musubi straddling his hips as she crushed him in her arms and nuzzled his face with her cheek.

" _You're the most amazing person I've ever met!_ _**Thank you**_ _, Minato!_ _ **Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!**_ "

Feeling her warm flesh pressed against his, despite just getting a terminal-velocity wind-bath, Minato couldn't help but chuckle.

 _Sure_ , he thought sardonically, _**I'm**_ _amazing._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

What would a rollercoaster of a day be without a rollercoaster of a baseball game?

The Giants, despite being the favorites to win, got off to a lousy start. After the Robins managed to get a man all the way to third base with sacrificial hits, the pitcher Sawamura Hirokazu just barely managed a strikeout at a 3-3 count. The Robin's first pitcher took a different tact, wisely walking the first two powerhouses at bat before pitching sliders and curveballs to the next four guys. "Four" was the case because he tried to sneak a fastball in the mix, which the batter took full advantage of. With a one-run deficit, the Robins went into the second inning and began making fools out of Sawamura's pitches.

One, two, three base hits, with a run thanks to the first runner stealing second _and_ third before scoring on an RBI. The last hit was rather controversial, at least for someone with the enhance vision of a Sekirei.

"Hey!" Musubi protested, leaping to her feet, "he was out!"

"I thought you were _rooting_ for the Robins," commented Minato.

"I am, but that's no excuse for bad calling!" barked the brunette, before spotting a nearby food vendor and waving an empty bowl at him. "More curry over here, please!"

The Robins managed to squeak ahead with another RBI, pulling ahead at 2 to 1. After shutting down the next at-bat by the home team, he next five innings became a tug-of-war, each team scoring 1, 2, 1, 0, and 1 runs a piece, ensuring the Robins maintained their one-run lead at the end of each. Musubi was standing up with the crowd, a clear minority of voices who sang the Robin's rally song. Minato sang too, not because he cared about one team over the other, but because everyone around him was doing it and it was a ton of fun for his drowned-out part.

Alas, a historic upset this game was not. Their energy spent, the Robins couldn't save themselves as the Giants proceeded to murder the ever-living crap out of the ball, ending the game at the top of the 9th. Final score: Robins 7, Giants 13.

"Awww..." Musubi was almost as destitute on her way home as she'd been on that pillar.

"Hey, there's always next time," said her Ashikabi.

That perked her up. "M-hm! And next time, the Robins can win for sure!"

They took the train home, though Musubi was a little confused by where they got off.

"Minato, there are stations closer to Maison Izumo, you know."

"Yeah," he said, "but I don't want our date to be over just yet."

Musubi tilted her head. What else was there to do? The arcades were closed, she wasn't hungry for the first time in what felt like forever, and the baseball game was over. "Does this mean we're staying at a hotel tonight?"

Minato froze at that, like a Michael Jackson video on pause. "What makes you say that?"

"You did the same thing with Tsukiumi," said Musubi. "Matsu told us."

He sighed, unlocking his limbs. "Guess the plan's a bust, huh?"

"Nah, we can still go!" Musubi snatched up his arm and pushed her well-rounded boobs against it. "It'll be nice to have a bed to ourselves."

 _Musubi,_ Minato thought, _you have no idea._

Second verse, same as the first, and in the same hotel, no less.

Musubi sat on the bed, eyes full of curiosity as she looked around the room. The lights were on, a warm glow from the two lamps casting a comforting contrast to the blue-glowing fish tank in the window. Minato was in the process of taking of his jacket, noticing Musubi hadn't moved since taking that spot.

"Something wrong, Musubi?"

"No," she replied. "I've just never been in one of these hotels before."

Minato nodded. "Not surprising."

"I'm just..."

"Just what?"

Now Musubi looked down, her eyelids drooping and her cheeks turning pink.

"I've heard about what people… What people do when they come here..."

His jacket off, Minato began walking around to the other side of the bed. "And?"

Musubi leaned forward, clutching her arms beneath her chest. "I'm a little nervous."

"There's nothing to worry about," said her Ashikabi, crawling on all fours across the bed. "You've been in scarier situations than this."

"I know." Musubi leaned forward even more, her hands uncrossing to rest on her kneecaps. "It's just, I don't know why I'm- ah!"

Her guard lowered, Minato had slipped his arms beneath hers and taken her gi-clad breasts in his hands, gently massaging and rolling them around.

"Minato-!"

"Does it feel good, Musubi?" he said softly, his breath swaying the hair next to her ear.

"I..." Musubi swallowed, her eyes screwed shut as she regathered her words. "I don't know..."

"Don't know?" His hands left her chest and instantly her eyes shot open, visible to him as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Tell you what..."

Those same hands now gripped her shoulders, pulling at her white gi. "Why don't you give it a chance, and if you decide you don't like it, just tell me and I'll stop. Okay?"

Blinking, breathing heavily, Musubi slowly nodded her assent.

"Good." Now Minato's hands went diving down the front of her gi.

"Ah! Minato, that's-" Whatever she was about to say died on her lips, killed dead by her sensual moan. Chest heaving, body growing weak, Musubi flopped back against her Ashikabi, leaning her head against his shoulder as he levered her gi open with his forearms. Now exposed, her neck was grace with his soft kisses, working his way up to her jaw, then her cheek. Opening her eyes, Musubi dazedly turned her head to the side and met his next kiss with her lips, her tongue weakly coming out to touch his own.

This feeling she got from her wings was… Strange. It felt good, but different from the usual full-body sense it triggered. Now, it was more concentrated around her chest and stomach, with a stranger sensation bubbling up between her legs.

"They're so big, and firm," Minato hushedly breathed, kissing her cheekbone again. "I always thought you and Tsukiumi were the same size, but turns out you had her beat all along."

Musubi swallowed again, a heated gasp escaping her mouth as the corners began to turn up. "You like them?"

"I _love_ them," he said, squeezing them gently, prompting a cute little squeak from her. "Just like I love you."

Panting now, Musubi smiled. "I love you, too, Minato."

They kissed again, Musubi's legs crossing as that feeling in her stomach intensified, like a spring winding up. When Minato's fingers slid up to press on her pink buds...

"Ah!"

 _Spless._

Minato stood back, mouth agape. Had she just… With only…

"Hhhh, Minato..." Musubi's tongue was hanging out, the Sekirei sprawled in Minato's lap as she looked down between her breasts at herself. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Bridging off of him, so as not to, well… "I made a mess," she said, pointing at the dark spot on the sheets that mirrored the color of her soaked panties.

Minato smiled, sliding around it and off the bed. "Did you like it?"

The brunette looked embarrassed to speak. "Maybe..."

"What's wrong?"

Clasping her hands (which pushed her breasts together between her arms), Musubi looked away. "If you're happy, then that makes me happy."

"Oooh, no," Minato said, wagging his finger at her, before kneeling down and kissing her flat stomach. "Tonight's about you, Musubi. Let me make _you_ feel good. Don't worry about me, just tell me what you want and I'll make sure you enjoy every second of it."

Now there was no doubt: she was _definitely_ feeling bashful. "I-I would, but..."

He stood, tipped her chin up, and looked directly into her eyes. "But what? You can tell me."

Her eyelids puckered and her arms began flailing like a baby bird's. "I don't know what to do! Takami-sama told me about what happens when a man and a woman love each other, but nothing we've done so far is like any of that! I'm so embarrassed!"

"Nothing?"

She nodded at that.

"Then leave everything to me; I'll walk you through it. And the first step..."

He knelt again, and hooked his fingers into her obi sash. "Is getting naked."

"Oh, really?" She perked up instantly. "I can do _that_."

"N-" Minato stopped himself. Sure, it would be great to feel Musubi up as he relieved her of clothes, but on the other hand… "You do that. And I'll watch."

"Watch?" Musubi was confused.

"Sure," said Minato, shuffling back to lean against the bedside table. "I've always wanted to see you do this."

Musubi beamed at him. "And I've always wanted to take a bath with you!"

Minato chuckled. _Old habits…_

The first thing Musubi went for was her obi sash, taking hints from Minato. She slipped it off, followed by her magenta miniskirt. Then, she took hold of her white stocking-

"No, wait. Leave that on for now."

Musubi tilted her head. "Why?"

Minato pointed to her feet. "Because you still have your shoes on."

"Oops!"

A dilemma easily fixed, that. Musubi was about to continue when she also remembered she still had her fighting gloves on. Once again, easily fixed. Next came her panties-

"Hold on."

Musubi looked up at him, smiling sincerely. "Minato, I can't get naked if you keep interrupting me."

"I know, I know." He twirled a finger in the air. "But turn around when you do it. Actually..." He took her by the hips and walked her around himself, leaving her to lean over the bed while he leaned on the wall.

Musubi, much like he was his first time, was a quick learner. "Like this?" she asked, keeping her legs straight while she slowly dropped her panties down, pushing out her toned thighs and bubble butt more and more. She couldn't see Minato's face, but their bond was pulsing strong, in time with her heartbeat. Or was it Minato's? Regardless, she stepped out of the leg holes-

"I can't wait any longer!" he shouted.

"Wha- Mina- AAAH!"

He'd caught her just above the knees with his arms and forklifted her on to the bed, her supple and bouncing butt cheeks touching his eyebrows as his tongue went to work.

"Minato, wait! I'm not- AH!" Juices sprayed his face as her whole body twitched. "Your tongue doesn't go in there!"

"Yeah?" he shot back, replacing his tongue with his burrowing fingers. "Neither do these, but what is your body telling you?"

"It's saying- MPH!" Her hips bucked as she climaxed again, burying her face in the covers.

"Just like this, Musubi! I'll keep you going all night long!"

Another muffled scream sounded as Musubi basted his fingers once more. Sheathing them for later, and ignoring the spreading stain on his tank top, Minato returned his lips to hers and motorboated her buttocks with his forehead, loving every second they jiggled and jumped.

For Musubi, this feeling just kept coming! It would hit her hard, fast, and without warning, and just as it spun down, just as she thought she knew when it was coming-

"MF! NH! MNNHT-H!" Her fingers clawed at the bed sheets, trying desperately to escape, to spread out, to stop that coil in her belly from hammering her unconscious! But with all her Sekirei strength, she couldn't pry her legs free. It was like they had a mind of their own, and they didn't want Minato to stop!

Musubi screamed as her butt bucked again. How much longer could she take this?! No amount of training from Miya had ever been this hard, or felt this good!

After her next geysering discharge, Minato rolled her over and opened her legs, mercilessly attacking her from the front: tongue, palms, fingers, not a single inch of Musubi's bubbly behind was left untouched.

"AH! Hah. AaaaaaaIII c-caaaan't-"

Oh, but she could, and her body knew it.

Grabbing his hair, Musubi pulled Minato closer to her, squeezing his head with her thighs while she crossed her calves behind him. She was afraid she might crush him, but all he ended up doing was going even faster! Her poor belly didn't know what to do, tensing and releasing so hard she was starting to feel it burn from the workout. Her head slammed back on the bed, blind from how far her eyes had rolled back, whited-out like her mind. All she knew was Minato, juicing her dry.

It got so bad that when he finally _did_ lift his head, her heels knocked him right back into her, Musubi helpless as she realized her brain was the only part she still had control of.

 _Please! Minato's getting tired! He needs to... Ooooh, it feels so- No! Stop it, body! Let him loose!_

Instead her body let itself loose, splattering Minato again.

Her right leg had begun to spasm uncontrollably, not even in sync with the rest of her, just merrily slapping his shoulderblade as the muscles in her thighs uncoupled themselves from her senses. She was total anarchy, every part of her screaming for Minato to continue.

He only escaped by sending his thumb low on her butt, swirling it around. The resulting sensation was so strange and wonderful that Musubi's buttocks clenched on their own, un-scissoring her legs and letting Minato burst free. But not before _she_ burst free again.

"UHhhh! Mmmmm…" Musubi was moaning like a cat in heat, her eyes returning to normal along with the rest of her. She sat up, and got a good look at her deeds. Her stockings were sopping wet, like towels that had gone through the wash or been left in the shower. Minato looked like he'd taken that shower, his face and hair dripping with her fluid and the front of his shirt stuck to his chest from how soaked it was.

Musubi blushed at the sight. "I'm-"

"Don't." A quick finger to her lips cut her off. "I'm glad I could make you feel so good."

"I know," she replied, pressing her cheek to his hand, "but I still ruined your tank top."

"So I got a little dirty," he professed, picking her up by the waist and setting her on her feet. "And when we're dirty-"

" _Take a bath!_ " cheered Musubi. "I can't wait to wash your back!"

"We'll have to shower, but yeah."

In the bathroom, Musubi's job was finding the perfect temperature while Minato stripped down. She didn't understand why, but she didn't really want to watch him like how he'd watched her. While her hand darted in and out of the water, Musubi spied a strange throne-like thing in the corner. It didn't have any nozzles or spray spouts on it, so it wasn't for bathing, but it was obviously made for sitting in. Musubi would just have to ask Minato about it.

"How's the water, Musubi?"

Speaking of her adoring Ashikabi, the naked brunette turned to see him, just now dropping his boxer shorts.

"It's warming up, still," she said, eyeing how swollen he'd become. "I'll make you feel good while we wait."

"It's fine," he said, backing away slowly.

"But I thought you liked doing things like this," she said, on her knees and looking up at him. "At least that's what Kazehana said."

More like _Kazehana_ liked doing this, which is what _he_ would say.

"I do," he told her, "but if you do that, I won't feel too good about kissing you."

"No!" Musubi wailed at the thought. Never kissing her Ashikabi again? If she'd known that, she never would've gone along with it when her and Kazehana did this last time.

"If you're serious, I have something else I want to try," he said.

Musubi didn't answer, still screaming internally.

"Musubi?" he inquired, waving a hand in front of her face. "You there?"

Then he kissed her again. Which he'd already done since they'd gotten here. Oops.

"I'm fine, Minato," she said. "What is it you want to try?"

Sticking his hand into the running water, Minato reached over and took the lone bottle of shower gel off the shelf. "Well..."

It took a few tries, but he managed to lay out what to do and how it would work. Musubi now lay on her back, the hot water running off her sensitive skin. Not as nice as a bath, but not by far. Minato straddled her stomach, nestled comfortably between her breasts with a look that was almost excited as she was.

"Ready?" she asked. He nodded down at her; what was he so tense about?

Pressing against the sides of her boobs, Musubi's chest began to flop up and down, sandwiching Minato. He twitched, already far deeper in pleasure than he'd thought.

"Does it feel good?" She couldn't resist leaning her head forward and lapping at him a few times.

" _Yeah..._ " He sounded out of breath. " _Holy crap, this is fantastic._ "

"I'm glad." A drizzle of glaze fell from the shower gel and on to her breasts, decorating them like cakes. This, they'd discovered, was a brand of non-toxic, edible shower gel, and as some of its fruity sweetness mixed with Minato's salty flavor, it was like Musubi had stumbled upon a world-class eatery.

"Augh, your boobs are amazing!" Minato shouted, pressing his thumbs to her pink cherries and thrusting his hips.

"You taste so good, Minato." Her mouth was open and her tongue hung out. "I know you told me not to, but… I want to."

Her lips clamped down, sucking him like a popsicle. Now _her_ tongue had him, revenge for what he'd done to her. And it was working.

"Musu… _bi-!_ " His grunted were uneven, as were his hip-thrusts becoming. "If you keep doing that, I won't hold on for much longer!"

Her mouth came free with a _pop!_ but she continued to lap him up.

"Musubi! Heeere iiit..."

She quickly sheathed him in her mouth again. Just in time, too.

"AARGH! MUSUBI!"

Between her sweat, his sweat, the shower gel and his secret ingredient, Musubi dined on a haut cuisine. She squealed at the pressure, having been warned but never about the speed of the current. She gulped it down quickly, her cheeks puckering in as her udders milked him dry, her head spinning and her wings curiously emerging from her crest.

When he was done, she popped him free again, licking her lips to make sure not a single drop was wasted. Her hands flew to her cheeks as she realized was that heady feeling was.

"Mmm! So yummy! Is there more?"

"Agh... Huh..." Minato had to lean on his hands, lest he collapse. "I don't know if I have another one in me."

"Sure you do! You're amazing, remember?" Her tits slapped shut again, surrounding him in softness. "So let's go!"

"I have a better idea," said Minato, sliding out from atop her and grabbing the shower gel. "Say 'Aaah'."

"Aaah." The fruity stuff drizzled right into her mouth, and naturally she began to gulp that down, too.

"No, don't swallow it." He grabbed the shower head, detachable to wash/sensitize those hard-to-reach areas, and held it in front of her mouth. "Okay, _now_."

She happily complied, knowing her Sekirei body could handle any germs that might be in the water. All of Minato's taste went down in her tummy, where it belonged, and her mouth felt squeaky-clean when she was done drinking.

"So, what now?" she asked.

"Now?" he repeated. "Didn't my mom tell you about this?"

"Oh, _this_ part!" she said, hammering her fist into her palm. Turning herself around, she leaned up against the wall and waggled her cute little butt at him. Below her swaying boobs lay the white throne. "What are you waiting for? Come on! This is what you've always wanted, isn't it?"

Minato smiled as he aligned himself with her. "Oo yeah."

Finally, after a hard day of running, rolling, diving and dining, Minato scored.

Musubi squeaked, in pain and pleasure, sliding down the wall at her Ashikabi's sudden intrusion. "So much… It hurts..."

"It'll feel great in a second," he said, standing still while her body adjusted. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to, Musubi. Remember: if it doesn't feel good, just tell me to stop."

She nodded. "It feels good already. It's you after all, Minato."

Hardly surprising, given how wet she'd gotten _before_ they started showering.

The Sekirei squealed as Minato took her, hands squishing against her round buttocks as the water flowed freely between them. He could hear her breasts plopping against the wall. What a shame it would be, to let such beautiful movement go to waste.

"Mmh! Minato!" Her nails clawed at the ceramic tiling, trying in vain to keep herself upright. "You're squeezing me so hard!"

"So are you!" He slammed her hips harder, sending a jolt through her body and bringing her climax. "It's like a vice! I love it!"

"Then do it again!" She felt herself being pushed against the wall, her knees resting on the seat of the ceramic chair. "Do it as much as you want! Don't stop! _Never_ stop!"

"Never!" he proclaimed, before giving her another strong slam.

"Mm! _A_ -hah!" She was bucking so much she would've fallen down if not for Minato's hands.

"Warn me next time!" he shouted, refusing to let up. "I don't know how much longer I can do this! I want to make you feel the best you've ever felt!"

"Yes! Please! I want you so bad!"

"You can... _have me!_ " Her butt jiggled as he slapped it.

"Ow, that hurt! Do it again!"

 _Slap._

She never thought spanking could feel this good.

"Minato, that feeling! It's coming fast! I, _I_ \- Mmh!"

Her eyes rolled back and she screamed into Minato's mouth. Poor little Musubi couldn't contain herself, convulsing and squirting all over the wall as her wings speared straight through her Ashikabi. The feedback went straight to her nerves, already sensitive from her first dozen climaxes. Her knees bashed at the wall, trying to get more of Minato and that outpour that came tumbling from her mouth into her body. This was heaven! She wasn't sure how he'd make her feel even _better_ after all the things he'd done on the bed, but this was it! Squeezing her boobs, pinning her to the wall, sending her off the rails like the runaway train her body had become-!

"I LOVE YOU MINATO-AAAAAAAH!"

Short and sweet this wasn't, and Musubi wouldn't have it any other way. Her surprise deluge wound down, slumping along with her between Minato and a wall. She didn't want it to end. She'd eaten the forbidden fruit and couldn't stand waiting for more. But Minato was tired. He'd been standing up this whole time, and chasing her before that, and walking with Tsukiumi before _that,_ so it just had to be.

"Hey," he said.

"Wha- Oh boy."

She felt two strong arms lifting her up by the legs, while she kept a tight grip on the third.

"I think," he breathed, running his tongue along her cheek, "that I could go all night. How about you?"

Her eyes glazed over and her cheeks further reddened at the thought. "As long as I get more."

"More?" he asked, before jerking his hips and drawing an ecstatic shout from her. "I've got loads more."

So much so that, when the sun peeked through the window and the noises of the city began to leak through, Minato and Musubi decided it was time for bed.

Snuggled against each other; Musubi's head tucked under his chin, her naked bosom cushioning his hard, manly chest; their bodies sore from the heights they'd achieved, they kissed one last time and sent each other on their way.


	65. Nothing Can Stand in Its Way

**Author's response(s) to:**

 _Tohka123:_ To be frank, the whole scenario with Musubi was born from a fire pit of _rage_ I had while writing. I got so damn sick of her being the smile-and-wave girlfriend who's always understanding and never gets upset, like she's only got half a functioning brain. I literally couldn't write her like that anymore; she _needed_ to develop. My epiphany: she needed to get mad. Like, _really_ mad. Like, mad enough to inform a complete departure from her character. Mad enough to _cancel her date with her Minato._ Basically, the kind of mad you get when you want something, but don't want to give your antagonizer the feckin' pleasure, so end up refusing the thing you want. What resulted from my desire was yet _more_ writer's block, until I said "Screw everything" and decided to toss in an air hockey match. Somehow, next thing I knew, I had the rest of my chapter.

 _darkstel_ : Oh, but there _are_ updates to interesting Sekirei fics. I just happen to be beta-reading a lot of them. It's all part of my ingenious plan, you see. Today the Sekirei section; _TOMORROW THE WORLD!_

Speaking of plans...

* * *

 **Nothing Can Stand in Its Way**

"Mmm, this is nice..."

Musubi lay atop Minato, framing his head with her hands while he held her close. His hand was running down her spine, stroking her, eliciting more happy purrs from her smiling lips. Now she knew why kitty cats loved it so much.

She was already feeling refreshed, despite how late they'd stayed up. There was a soreness in between her legs, and a small itch, which Kazehana had told her about ahead of time. It actually felt good, in a way, knowing that she'd finally bonded with Minato so completely. No wonder Kazehana was always leaning on him: Minato's touch was so warm and gentle. They _had_ to do this more often, maybe every day. Why not? If Tsukiumi was okay with it…

Her Ashikabi turned her head with his hands, and his lips touched her own. That exotic feeling swept through her form, her morning fatigue leaving her body with her wings. She hopped up to her knees, straddling Minato.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she chirped, her usual pep returned.

"Good morning, Musubi," he replied, pecking her on the lips again. "You sleep well?"

"Of course! I always sleep well when I'm with you!"

By the pursing of his lips, he seemed hesitant to agree.

"What?" she asked.

"It's just, well..." He looked at her. "Not with you, but when all five of you are on top of me, it gets kind of crowded."

She nodded. "Me too. It's nice to have a bed to ourselves." Her expression drooped a little, though her smile remained. "I just wish we could do this more."

"Then why don't we?"

"Eep!"

His hands were on her supple behind, pulling her close. He kissed her again. By the feel of things, he was already wide awake and rearing to go.

Their lips clashed a second time, Musubi moaning needfully and swiveling her pelvis atop him. He reached down to adjust, then sat up and scooted his hips in, bashing her curtains open.

Musubi squeaked, still tongue-deep in Minato's mouth, as he began scratching that wonderful itch he'd awakened the night before. While the Sekirei bounced up and down, her breasts jiggling against Minato's hardened chest, she glanced at the clock.

 _10?_ she thought, bewildered as much as her pleasured mind could be. _We've only been asleep for four hours! How did… Ooooh…_

Musubi's mind melted in ecstasy as she leaned her head back, allowing Minato to suckle on her neck. His hand grabbed her right breast, her supple flesh bouncing in between his fingers.

Tsukiumi hadn't come back with him yesterday until about 12. Musubi looked forward to the next hour and fifty minutes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eighty-Eight strode along on the sidewalk, humming a merry tune and swinging her Ashikabi's hand in her own. Her head bobbed from side to side with the rhythm, totally oblivious to all the jealous glares she was drawing Minato's way. She was happy, probably the happiest she'd ever been. That pain in her legs was still there but it only brought back happy memories of the night before, and of a few minutes ago.

Minato's attention never strayed, hypnotized by the spring in her step. "If I'd known we were going to walk, I would've gotten us up sooner."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that!" said Musubi as she skipped over a hole in the sidewalk. "I'm sure everyone will understand."

Minato's face looked a little queasy at that. "...'Everyone'?" he asked, with a heavy air of nausea and dread.

"M-hm, even Tsukiumi."

Minato's eyes went back to looking ahead, his mind whirling at the concept. Musubi didn't skip a beat, picking up her happy little song right where she'd left off. The next time she stopped was when she passed an alleyway, and decided to pull Minato into it. Moments later, a pink light glowed from around the corner, fading in and out of the air like the aurora borealis. Its halting coincided with the sound of a phone vibrating, and even from the sidewalk, one could hear…

" _Minato, where art thou?! Why hast thou yet to return?! WHAT ART THOU DOING TO MUSUBI?!_ "

"Welllll… Do you really wanna know, Tsukiumi?"

" _I do not! NOW MAKE HASTE!_ "

 _Click._

"See, Minato? I told you she'd understand!"

"Yeah, she definitely 'understands', all right..."

The pink glow resumed. When it faded a second time, no one emerged from the alley. Instead, locals would spot what they knew to be one of Minaka's Sekirei soaring overhead, pulling a human behind her. His lack of screams implied that she wasn't abducting him, but then again, what man (and a few women) could say no to a body like a Sekirei's? It would be like fielding a proposition from Sean Connery: would one _really_ turn it down?

Not Minato, even if it meant being flown home to where a furious blonde bombshell was likely waiting for him on the front step.

" _MINATO!_ "

Sometimes, he hated being right…

"Thou art late!" Tsukiumi barked, standing stalwart between him and his way inside. Her hands were on her hips, and he could guess what she was mad about.

"You didn't mind when we came back late," he pointed out.

Tsukiumi didn't miss a beat, speaking up the instant Musubi's stomach growled. " _We_ , my husband, were enjoying a nutritious breakfast as a married couple. We were _not_ engaging in untoward relations at all hours of the morning!"

"Wait, how did you-" He shut his trap, but it was too late. Tsukiumi's eyes widened, as she realized what had been meant as a metaphor had instead been interpreted as literal.

"How." She stepped forward.

"Long." Another.

Musubi spoke now, letting go of Minato to a measure a length in the air with her hands. "About this long, Tsukiumi."

"Th-That-!" The Water Sekirei turned bright red. She sputtered several syllables of gibberish, her eyelids fluttering erratically as steam seemed to rise around her thermometer-colored head. Her teeth began to grind, making her words even _less_ legible, until she finally couldn't take it.

" _I AM AWARE OF MY HUSBAND'S GENEROUS ENDOWMENT, MUSUBI, AND DO NOT NEED REMINDERS OF THUS WHILST IN A PUBLIC FORUM!_ "

Musubi cocked her head to the side, smiling cluelessly. "Then why'd you ask?"

"AAAA- mh!"

Minato silenced her frustrated screech with a kiss, tipping her chin up with his hand, that his tongue might be allowed easier access. Her eyes remained wide and her face remained red, even after Tsukiumi's blue wings dissipated and she and Minato parted mouths.

"I'm glad to see you, too, Tsukiumi." He offered her a warm smile, taking her hands in his own. "I kind of wanted to keep my wallet alive, so we both decided to stay in bed for the morning. If it makes you feel better..."

He leaned in close, his breath washing over her ear. "I figured out a little Sekirei-related trick. Next time, you and me can go longer than three rounds."

Tsukiumi remained unconvinced. "And just how many 'rounds' didst thou go with Musubi, using thy new secret?"

His hand snaked around her waist, pulling her close so he could feel the heat her body gave off from what he said next.

"We'd run out of fingers counting them."

Now Tsukiumi's eyes went wide for a different reason. She seemed to relax, pulling back from her husband.

"Then I suppose I can forgive thee," she said, turning towards the door while looking over her shoulder. "Thou art… My husband, after all."

"He's my husband, too!" Musubi exclaimed.

"Until thou knowest what being a wife entails," said Tsukiumi, "thou hast no right to make such claims."

"But I _do_ know!" Musubi pouted. "Minato showed me last night. I know everything you know!"

"Then we shall see, will we not?" Tsukiumi proclaimed smugly, turning her back to her rival. "My husband's heart will dash thy delusions in time."

 _WHUMP!_

"Mind if I cut in?" a seductive voice cooed. "Welcome back, Mina-kun. Mmm..."

Kazehana wasted no time in kissing him, trapped as he was beneath her spread legs and enormous breasts. Perhaps that soft, supple plush of her body was why these crash-landings never hurt.

What _did_ hurt was the shock of cold water bucketing down on the two of them. Kazehana's warmth only made it worse.

" _Hath not there been defilement enough for one morn?!"_

Only now did Kazehana part from his lips, the sun outlining her curvaceous body. Eyes fixed on Minato, she pushed her breasts together with her hands. "How 'bout it, Mina-kun? Feel like defiling _this_?"

Maybe it was just him, but Kazehana looked… "bigger" than usual.

" _Minato, get thee hence!_ " Tsukiumi squawked. "She hath thy mark but ne'er shall take thy dignity!"

Kazehana chuckled, sitting up so that her crouch pressed against his. Her hands still pressed against her enormous melons. "Dignity's overrated, if you ask me."

He was blushing, wasn't he? Dripping wet, with Tsukiumi and Musubi looking on, there was no way his shame wasn't firing full-blast right now. Kazehana knew this, too; why else would she slowly pivot her torso back, dragging her groin against his pants?

Tsukiumi was now fuming literally, and Musubi was… Wait, where _was_ she? She'd been right here a second ago.

His vision of Kazehana and Tsukiumi was cut off. The cloth that smothered his face could only belong to a towel.

"Lucky Miya had this on the line," came Musubi's voice. "Now we can just hang it up when we're done!"

"Kazehana-nee-sama, you need a towel to."

"Thanks, Ku, but I like being wet. My hair could use a dry, if you're offering."

The towel on his face swirled around, ruffling his hair and eyebrows. In moments, his face was dry, and his vision restored.

Musubi's face smiled down upon him. "There you go, Minato." She then looked rather perturbed, glaring at Tsukiumi. "Say your sorry, Tsukiumi. I'm tired of you always getting Minato wet."

By the look of things, Tsukiumi seemed ready to, out of shock that _Musubi_ of all people was frowning at her.

Kazehana, as he'd felt, was still atop him, stretching back while Ku dried out her long black hair. "Haaaa, it really helps me fill out my dress more."

Minato smirked at that. "Don't you think it's tight enough?"

"Every little bit helps, Mina-kun. Hey, Tsukiumi, can you gimme another bath? My front isn't as clingy as I like it."

Tsukiumi narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms, and turned up her nose. "Certainly not!"

"See that, Ku?" Kazehana chuckled. "Reverse-psychology works every time."

That's when a glob of water splattered against Kazehana's hair.

"All is fair in love and war," stated Tsukiumi. " _Waagh!_ "

"Right back at'cha," replied Kazehana, watching the updraft carry Tsukiumi's skirt above her panties.

"Wretch..." Tsukiumi growled, water beginning to orbit her form. "'Tis not enough, thy own shame? Thou must have mine as well?"

Now Kazehana looked at Tsukiumi. Her hair began to kick up in the winds surrounding her. "What did you just call me?"

A strong hand gripped her arm, and like a light switch her winds shut off in an instant. She looked back, and found a pair of hard grey eyes staring into her own.

"Remember what I said about fighting?" he warned, before leaning over to give Tsukiumi a scare. "How about you?"

Twice now The Water Sekirei had been caught off guard, and her face failed to hide that. Those were not the eyes of the man who'd pushed her out of harm's way time and again. Kazehana felt the same; it was frightening, to say the least.

But, there was at least one who was pleased at the sight. He stood just inside the doorway, a half-smile stretching his skin to outline his solid jaw.

"Stone cold," he muttered, slowly nodding his head. "Definitely making progress."

"Is this what you had planned?" asked another voice, feminine but belonging to a male.

"Honestly, I didn't have much of a plan," replied the first male. "He's not crazy enough for Macho Man, or juiced enough for Warrior. Or fruity enough for Goldust."

The reaction he'd been expecting never came. The blonde-haired, black-clad beefcake glanced to his left, at his silver-haired counterpart.

"Don't forget to blink on occasion," he joked.

That snapped Homura out of it. "What are you talking about?"

Kagedansu raised an eyebrow. "You don't blink when you stare."

"I wasn't staring," said Homura evenly. "I was just surprised."

"Oh ho, that's not all you were, from the color you're turning."

" _Just drop it Kagedansu_."

Homura turned and stormed off, leaving Kagedansu to wrinkle his nose. "Yeesh, touchy much?"

Boy did _that_ earn him a death-glare. "Oh come on, Homura, you know what I meant! Whoop."

Kusano shouldered her way past his leg, towing her big brother by the hand. "Matsu-nee-sama's upstairs."

Sixty-Seven's yellow eyes followed them up, wondering what would be so important as to warrant deploying a small child.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Thanks, Ku. Could you give us a minute?"

"Can I stay? Please? I wanna hear about things, too, you know!"

"Why not?" Minato asked. "What's this all about anyway?"

Matsu sighed. "Fine. I guess you can hear most of it, Ku."

The Wisdom Sekirei turned back to her monitors. "The Third Stage is probably going to wrap up soon. Now seems like a good time to tell you about everything."

"Um, what exactly _is_ everything?" Minato asked.

"The Sekirei Plan, the island, the invasions, and the deal with the Jinki."

Minato leaned back, Ku taking a seat in his lap. "Sounds like there's a lot to cover."

"Not really. Well, not that I can't sum it up pretty well. To start, what do you know about the Sekirei Plan?"

"Well-"

 _One explanation later…_

"-and now, here we are."

"Okay. So the first thing you need to know is this."

A few taps of her fingers brought up an image: a large rocky outcropping, sticking out of the ocean.

"An island?"

"Kamikura Island. Everything that The Sekirei Plan is began here, the day two students made landfall."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hurry up, Takami-chan, we're so close I can practically _taste it!_ "

 _Pok!_

His companion's aim was dead-on, beaning him in the head with a rock and sending him keeling onto his face.

"That was very rude," he said, climbing back to his feet, dirt covering the blue jumpsuit and red scarf he wore, not to mention his frazzled mane of black hair. "You should show more respect, T-"

"You're the brightest mind our university's ever had and the best student it's ever produced," said Takami, his partner, already juggling another stone in her hand. "Act like a child and I'll treat you like one."

"Oh come, Takami, where's your sense of adventure?" The man spread his arms wide. "This island is fresh as a newborn, teeming with discovery!"

"We're not here for an adventure," Takami growled, scrunching her eyes shut. How did she get talked into this? "We're here to-"

Her partner was already scrambling up the next rocky wall. "Exploring the unknown has been the greatest adventure for men of science since time immemorial!"

"Dammit. Would you at least slow down?!" This lunatic was going to get one or both of them killed, at this rate.

 _These two were supposed to be there for a survey. What they found instead was something that would change the world forever._

Atop the wall, he stopped. "Takami, come quickly! It's The King of Terror!"

"Ugh..." One handhold at a time, Takami made her way up-

-to gaze upon something that utterly took her breath away.

"Wh… What?" Takami gasped.

"Nostradamus predicted it would fall at the end of the century. Impressive, is it not?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It was an ancient derelict space ship," said Matsu, "crash-landed and swallowed up by the ocean, now pushed up thanks to tectonic shifts in the Earth."

"What does that mean?" Ku asked, looking to Minato, which Matsu found a little hurtful to her pride.

"It has to do with the plates floating atop the Earth's mantle," said The Wisdom, Sekirei, "and the processes and changes related to them."

Ku still looked lost. "Like above the fireplace?"

"More like volcanoes," Minato answered. "There's more to explain, but let's let Matsu keep telling her story."

"Ah, I love stories!" said Musubi.

"Wah!" Minato scared himself half-to-death. "When did you get here?"

"Since the beginning. I put Tsukiumi and Kazehana in a corner together. They can come out once they get along again."

Now _that_ was a story Minato wanted to hear: Musubi putting _those two_ in time-out.

"Anyway," Matsu continued, "the ship wasn't even the biggest find."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lighting still worked, though there was no discernible source for it. It just seemed to glow, white, from all around, save the divots between the irregularly-shaped metal plates. What metal, they didn't know. Its pale color was unlike any they'd ever seen. Or was that too, just the light?

The next door swirled open, exactly like the first. "Are we expected?" Takami asked.

"It's possible the security was destroyed in the crash," replied her partner. "Or perhaps we meet a certain criteria for entry." He giggled giddily. "It's oh so exciting, isn't it?"

The next short corridor was book-ended by more oval-shaped doors, split like a hexagonal taijitu symbol, but these panels and controls appeared to be working. A nebulous monitor appeared on one, a thin layer of crystalline red powder resting atop it, almost like sand. Upon approaching, the powder lit up and began shifting, casting an image on itself of row after row of green, pill-shaped markers. There had to be at least several dozen, possibly over a hundred.

"What do you think these mean?" asked Takami.

"And behind door number four-!"

"Stop it, you idiot!"

Too late. The lunatic had already strolled up to the nearest portal and opened it, simply by his presence near it.

 _What they found were 108 sleeping life forms. One was adolescent, eight were fetuses, and the rest were mere fertilized eggs. Those life forms…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Were Sekirei, yes."

"Wah!" Minato's surprise was ignored.

"Thy sense of drama is ill-timed. Thou holdest thy pause for seconds too long."

"Oh, hi Tsukiumi!" Musubi chirped. "Are you and Kazehana friends now?"

A vein bulged on Tsukiumi's forehead, and one could hear her jaw clench. "Not as such… We deduced that friction between us was inevitable, if not unavoidable, and so called a truce."

Ku pouted. "It's not unavoidable..."

"You'll do better next time," Musubi assured her, smiling. "Because now Minato can be scary, too."

"I really wish I didn't have to," sighed the Ashikabi in question.

"In any case," said Matsu, getting back on track, "while the island wasn't on any maps, something that big couldn't be kept secret forever. Soon, the outside world learned of this amazing discovery, and that's when things got _really_ screwed up..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Just a moment," said Takehito, the Squad's appointed physician, as he prodded No. 4 with a prong-like tool hooked up to a portable touch-screen, state of the art technology that only juggernauts like MBI could afford en masse. "There. Your power level should be fully stabilized. You're now as strong as a fully emerged Sekirei."

"Finally," said No. 4, tensing and relaxing her poked bicep as she looked around her compatriots. "How do any of you put up with this?"

"Somehow," said No. 5, tugging at his signature orange scarf, a stark but fashionable contrast to his black Squad uniform. "How do _you_ find it so uncomfortable?"

"The same way I find humans 'uncomfortable'," replied No. 4. "Hopefully I'll relieve some of that discomfort today."

"Humans aren't _that_ bad," said No. 3, stretching her arms above her head. "If you're that creeped-out by them, I have a way."

"And how hungover does it leave you?" asked No. 2.

"Focus."

The Squad ceased their banter at the sound of their leaders voice. Easily the most powerful of the lot of them, they parted ranks to allow her through. Her sword was already drawn, and her purple bangs were shorn short enough to show her blood-red eyes.

"These humans seek to do the little ones harm," said Number One. "We cannot let a single one escape. Word cannot spread of our presence here, and a message must be sent to the ones who invade our island."

Two adjusted her glasses and stepped out in front of the group. "I'm up first, then." Power boiled inside of her skull, like the turbulent tides on the rocky shores from which came the invaders. "Access… Search."

Data flooded her mind, enough to overwhelm a lesser being. However, the orange-haired woman was anything but "lesser": second, quite literally, to only Number One. Binary code became algorithms, then files, hundreds upon hundreds of them, beaming into her mind all at once. 99% were unnecessary; she filtered them out. That left the useful items. Satellite codenames, orbit paths, designations. Find the right one. Affirmed. Find the right access code. Where's it stored? Begin crack. Secured. Applying. Accessing motion controls. Adjusting. Camera functions. Zooming in.

"Got it," said Number Two. "The enemies forces are comprised of six military choppers, eighteen mechanized armor units, sixty heavy infantry troops, and three battleships."

…

"That's it?" said Number Two. "That's hardly a match for us."

"Well move over, hun," said Number Three, "'cause I'm up next."

 _Hold on a second!_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matsu halted her recollection upon her Ashikabi's outburst.

" _You_ were in the Discipline Squad?!" he blurted out. "Kazehana, too?!"

"Sure," said Number Three in question, having stealthily snuck up on her husband and now draping herself on his back, dairy cushions deployed, voice set for half-strength seduction. "Face it, Mina-kun, you hit the _double_ jackpot when you winged us. Two lovely maidens with the pre-winged strength of a winged Sekirei."

She leaned in close to his ear, pressing her bosom harder against his back, whispering, "And we _looove_ getting orders."

A droplet of water struck the tip of Kazehana's nose. Looking up, she saw a small blue sphere hovering over her head, oscillations disturbing its surface.

"I allow thee to lay hands on my husband," said Tsukiumi, "as cleansing thy filthy mind wouldt damage Matsu's equipment. But take heed: a child's on hand. 'Twould be wise to mind thy manner."

Kazehana giggled. "Ku'll have to learn eventually. No time like the present."

Both Tsukiumi and Minato nearly gagged on their own tongues, eliciting a laugh from Kazehana. "I'm just kidding! Relax."

Her arms snaked around Minato, and Ku, hugging them both closer to her. "You hit the jackpot, too, Ku."

"What's that mean?" asked The Green Girl.

"The jackpot's the best prize," said Matsu, "and pretty much impossible to get." She crossed her arms beneath her chest and gave Minato a suggestive leer. "Anyway..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazehana swept a hand in front of her, an invisible wave rolling through the air to splash against the line of helicopters on the approach. Four spun out and crashed into each other. The two on the flanks managed to evade, only to be rocked by a second, much stronger wind flipping them upside down and sending them plummeting to their demise. The pilots couldn't even eject.

"Accessing..." said Matsu. "The enemy's panicking. They want to know why the choppers lost control."

"That figures," said Number Five, leaping through the air to land in the path of the tank squadron. One tap of his sword split the ground asunder, sinking the tanks at a downward angle, their turrets buried in the rock. Now useless, the crews disembarked and began to fall back while the infantry began setting up a battle line using the tanks as cover.

They didn't live long enough to finish it.

Number Four came out of nowhere, mowing down soldiers with her sword, herding them back like sheep. Knowing her, she was probably trying to set a record for how many she could kill with one swing. Some tried to shoot her. Full-auto weapons blazing, they couldn't get a bead on her as she moonsaulted through the air, twisting and landing to the tune of three more heads flying from bloody stumps.

When a machine gunner was left firing his weapon one-handed in the second before his skull was sliced in half, the retreat turned into a full-on rout, the soldiers scattering, hoping the sworded she-devil would chase someone else. Unfortunate they were, for Karasuba had plenty of time and plenty of pace to see to them all.

It was then that the expedition commander, aboard a ship with no name, manifest or flag, received word that all of the land and air forces had been wiped out to a man. Determined to push through, he instructed the reserves to begin filing into the returning troop transports, and to begin shelling the cliffs upon which stood a lone member of the enemy. The captains aboard the adjacent ships announced their compliance.

Then, one of the captains' shrieks was cut off as his ship split in twain, exploded, and began sinking.

The commander demanded a report, to which he was told that lone member appeared to be attacking them somehow. "Somehow" was the best that could be discerned, as the second ship went down exactly like the first. Now the gun crews were finally done loading the shells, and all 9 of the ship's 16-inch guns pointed to the cliffs.

The explosion that followed came from the shells, but while they were still in the guns.

With only an anonymous whimper over the radio, the final ship creaked and folded in half, before sinking beneath the waves.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The gathered audience was aghast, barring Kazehana. Even Homura was there, staring in horror at his teammate.

"And knowing all of that," he said, "after _hearing_ all of that…" He then looked at Kazehana.

The Wind Sekirei sighed and took another drink. "It was us or them, and we chose them."

"It was war," said Matsu. "They came for our family, and got what they brought."

"Even so..." Minato looked down at Ku, who seemed blissfully disconnected from the bloody tale she'd just been told. Safe in that knowledge, he returned his gaze to Matsu. "Doesn't it bother you? Those men had families, too, who probably didn't even know where they were or what they were doing."

Matsu looked straight at him. "I only _just_ stopped having nightmares about that day."

Minato dared not ask if she thought it was worth it. Looking around at his other Sekirei, four of whom had been asleep in those pods when the invasion happened, even _he_ couldn't bring himself to answer that question.

"But there was another reason we went to such extremes," said Matsu. She glanced at Homura and Kazehana, who both nodded in unison.

"Okay, story time's over," said The Fire Sekirei, standing up and shooing Tsukiumi out of the room. The Water Sekirei said nothing, not even a grumble, as she stood to leave.

No, the role of conscientious objector fell to someone else.

"But I wanna hear more!" yapped Ku.

"Me too!" said Musubi.

"No buts," Kazehana chided, lifting Ku from Minato's lap. "Let's leave them alone for some alone time."

"Why can't we be alone together?"

"Stop asking questions, Musubi," said Homura.

"Why?"

Musubi, Tsukiumi, and Ku were left standing in the hallway while their Ashikabi was left with the highest numbers of the flock. Naturally, all three went to press their ears to the door…

Which then swung open. Homura stuck his feminine silver-haired head out just long enough to spout, "No", before sliding back inside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, what did you guys want to talk about?" asked Minato. Homura and Kazehana said nothing, watching as Matsu stood up and began feeling around in the area above her monitors. She stopped, and seemed to slip her hand inside a hollow space, hidden behind the veil of light from the computers. When she pulled back, she had something.

It was a Jinki.

Not just any Jinki, but a Jinki labeled "08" on the side.

"Whoa."

"Yeah," Matsu replied. "That's one way to put it. Hopefully this explains a few things."

"I'll say it does," said Minato, staring at the crystalline object. "But why did you?"

"These things aren't just the paperweights Minaka would have everyone believe," said Matsu, handing it to Minato. "They're essentially keys. Keys to a superweapon."

"Are you serious?!" Right after he asked, Minato clamped his mouth shut. Of _course_ she'd be serious about this. "What kind of superweapon?"

"An ancient spacecraft with a devastating energy weapon. By human standards, it's essentially an orbital space laser, straight out of science fiction."

Unwillingly, Minato's eyes shifted over to the monitors, where the derelict Sekirei ship remained onscreen.

"No," said Matsu, "not that one. This spacecraft still works. From what I could gather, from what _Minaka_ gathered, this craft on the island was little more than an escape pod."

Minato swallowed at that. Sure, an escape pod that carried 108 life forms in stasis as well as the keys to the Goldeneye satellites, and whose discovery led to the rise of the single biggest conglomerate since Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust.

"There's more," said Matsu, her gaze drooping. "This is also why Uzume… Well… She helped me escape MBI after I stole this. Now, her Ashikabi's dying of a terminal illness, and she can't go to MBI for help."

Silence followed. After all, what exactly was Matsu supposed to say next? That she felt sad that her friend was being forced to carry out hits on other Sekirei at the behest of Izumi Higa? That Matsu had suspected it all along but been too torn up to actually confirm it? That her decision nearly cost her several friends, not to mention all those times Uzume picked a fight with Kazehana.

She felt two trim but athletic arms circle her shoulders, and next thing she knew her bust was being pushed against Minato's chest. Sighing, she returned the hug.

"What's this for?" she asked. "Can't a girl be miserable from time to time?"

"No way," said Minato. "You sound like you need a hug."

"I could go for a kiss, too..."

"Don't push it, Matsu."

Matsu huffed, a little hurt. "Geez, Minato, I was only asking." She turned her head to look at him. "You don't- mmph!"

His lips cut her off, and her golden wings lit the room.

When he parted from her, he was about to speak when Kazehana pounced, snatching his head with her hands and planting her tongue inside his mouth. The Wind Sekirei moaned, feeling Matsu's face press against Minato's as she tried to push her Ashikabi free.

"You're insatiable," said Matsu. "You know that, right?"

Kazehana's lip-lock broke with a small _pop!_ and she eyed her bestie. "Why else would Mina-kun put up with me? Oo!"

His hand was groping her bust, his other hand doing similar to Matsu's. "I have a few reasons," he said. "But anyway..."

He took his hands off of them, and stood. "I don't know much about Uzume's situation, but I want to help her. I… I know she'd do the same for me, for _us_ , if we were stuck like her. I won't let this continue, if I can help it."

"Oh?" asked Kazehana, starting to blush at her husband's manly confidence. "Do I even need to ask why?"

"Don't bother," said Minato, "I'll tell you anyway."

He stood, and began pacing, dropping the Jinki back in Matsu's lap. "I'd do the same for any Sekirei, actually. I hate this game. I hate the fact that we have to play by Minaka's rules all the time! The thought of losing any of you would give me nightmares if you all didn't dog-pile my bed every night."

"Among other things," muttered Matsu, nudging Kazehana, "if we had our way."

Kazehana giggled, and nodded assent.

"And right now, there are Sekirei like Uzume who could be taken from _their_ Ashikabi. Maybe not from disease, but does it matter? I can't help all of them; I know that. So I'll settle for helping Uzume, however we can."

"If we could help her," Matsu interrupted, "don't you think I'd have already done it? Outside of MBI, there's no one who could treat her Ashikabi. I hate being a downer, but we never had options with this, Minato."

"Then stop," he shot back, startling her. "I'll _beg_ Minaka if I have to. Is it right for Uzume to get this because of something she _helped_ do? I can think of something already! Uzume's been breaking Minaka's rules, but she wouldn't have had to if Minaka had helped her! So it's his own fault!"

"Maybe tone back the torch-and-pitchfork speak when you ask," suggested Homura. "Minaka's also a raging egotist."

"More like a fanatic," said Kazehana. "He's obsessed with us, but also with keeping his game in order."

"If he's a fanatic," said Minato, "then I'll be one, too, if that's what it takes to get through to him."

"How much of one?"

"I'll be a _religious_ one, if I have to!" Minato proclaimed, sounding somewhere between joking and delusional by this point. "If that's what it takes for one more Sekirei to be happy!"

Matsu shook her head and smiled. "Whatever you say, Austin-san."

"'Austin-san'?" came three uniform responses.

"'Prosperity in Texas was the purpose of my work - the idol of my existence'," Matsu recited. "'It assumed me the character of religion for guiding my thoughts and actions'. Steve Austin, 'Father of Texas'."

Minato gave her a perplexed look, prompting the Wisdom Sekirei to say, "It's amazing what you dig up when you're on the web all day."

"He also said…" Kagedansu appeared, walking up behind them, the rotary door wide open behind him. "'Why have you not broken from the pack? 'Cause you're playing it safe. Safe ain't gonna get you shit in this world'."

Matsu shot him a hairy-eyeball look, prompting The Shadow Sekirei to add, "Different Steve Austin."

"Sounds like a classy guy," Matsu quipped, rolling her eyes.

"You go on the internet enough to know The Father of Texas," Kagedansu rebutted, "but not the Texas Rattlesnake?"

"You have your hobbies, I have mine."

"True," said The Shadow Sekirei, "like torturing human learny-types. Let's go, Austin!"

He had Minato by the collar and was dragging him down the hallway.

"Ow! Kagedansu, I can walk on my own!"

"But where would you go?!" shouted The Shadow Sekirei. "Not outside! Not to training! Well tough luck, pal. _No slacking off on Rusev Day!_ "

"But I have a date later!" Minato whined.

"Our date's tomorrow Mina-kun," sang Kazehana, waving him goodbye like a lady in a castle tower. "Work hard!"

Once they were out of sight, Matsu let out a sigh she'd been holding, her body untensing. She produced the Jinki from beneath her cushion-seat and slipped it back into its hiding place. Lucky Kagedansu hadn't seen it; the less people who knew about it, the better.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minus the history lesson, the following six hours were more or less repeated after the sun rose and Minato tunneled his way out from under five Sekirei. Looking at himself in the mirror, he remembered being a lot skinnier than he was now, slowly graduating to "lean" with the corded muscles forming on his limbs. He was no heavyweight, certainly no Randy Savage, but now he might pass as "mildly threatening".

Oh, who was he kidding?

Later, while doing jumping-jacks in the afternoon sun, one-kilo weights in his hands, Minato wondered what it would take to _maintain_ this fantasy body of his once he got it. Well, no sense sweating that, not when he was sweating for real, all while muttering the magic mantra to give himself energy.

" _Ma-_ cho _ma-_ cho man. I wanna _be_. A _ma-cho_ man…"

Kagedansu watched from the side, doing jumping jacks of his own, but with two cinderblocks hanging from his forearms, taped up to prevent scraping. Meanwhile, the two self-proclaimed wives were watching their husband, one of them getting _very_ into his manta.

" _Body_ ," huffed Minato. "It's so _hot,_ my _bo-dy._ _Body._ Love to _please,_ my _bo-dy. Body._ Don't you _tease_ my _bo-dy_."

 _Oh-ho,_ thought Kazehana, _just you wait until tonight, Mina-kun_.

Tsukiumi growled, upon which Kazehana realized she'd spoken aloud.

"I know you hate sharing, Tsukiumi," said The Wind Sekirei. "If it makes you feel better, I don't really like sharing him, either. I mean, I don't mind, I guess, but I'd still like him all to myself."

"I sympathize with thy feelings," said The Water Sekirei, "and they do not ease my strife."

"Well, I tried." This called for a drink.

"I still have yet to forgive thee."

"For seducing him? I think we're long past _that_ point, hun."

"Do not call me 'hun', Kazehana," said Tsukiumi. "And nay, 'tis still thy lie I take umbridge with."

"You're still mad about that?" Kazehana had just about had enough of this. "Look-"

"'Tis not the fact that thou lied," interrupted The Water Sekirei, "but that thou saw fit to lie, than trusting me to retreat with civility. I respect thy decision towards Kusano and Musubi, but thy lack of faith in me is… Perturbing."

Well, was that the time? Kazehana was due for dinner in about two hours which gave her _juuuust_ enough time to change into her dating dress. Hopping off the rooftop ledge, and taking one last swig from her bottle, Kazehana returned inside. Her fine-tuned Sekirei ears didn't miss her favorite line of Minato's little workout song.

"Funky with his body… He's a king…"

 _That's my_ _job as your wife, Mina-kun. Don't start without me._

She missed it, as her back was turned, but Minato got a rather peculiar look on his face, a look he was directing at her.

Tsukiumi was left on the roof, where she thought she was alone, until she sensed another presence at the end.

 _Homura?_ she thought. _Thou art as privy to appear as a ghost in a noonday field. What the devil art…_

He was… Staring. At Minato. His mask was pulled up over his face, and his body was curled up, almost as if to hide his female body, but there was no mistaking the direction of her rival's gaze: the sweat-soaked form of Tsukiumi's husband.

 _Why art thou…_

Even in her own head, Tsukiumi's voice trailed off. Homura left her baffled, utterly incapable of conceiving of a reason.

On the flip side, Kazehana gave Tsukiumi an _obvious_ reason to raise a fit.

"What the devil art thou wearing?!"

Kazehana emerged from the house wearing a sparkling black dress that was, somehow, even _more_ scandalous than her usual outfit. The cut of the neck practically descended to her stomach, her breasts looking like they might slide out the middle at any moment. The black shoulder straps hugged her skin, but got so thin around the neck area that they looked ready to snap. Worst of all, despite the lower-hanging dress, the sides had been sheared, exposing her legs all the way up to her hip. It looked to suggest that she wasn't wearing panties, a theory that a strong wind would…

 _That heated witch!_

"I tolerate thy indecency most days, but not this one!" Tsukiumi proclaimed, jumping down. "Hast thou no _shred_ of modesty? Thou wouldst be taken for a glove with such gawdyness!"

It took a moment for Tsukiumi's meaning to sink into Kazehana's brain. "Aww, I didn't think you cared."

"I care not for thee, but for how we few decent folk would view my husband!"

"Great idea," Kazehana smirked, turning to Minato and leaning forward. "You like, Mina-kun?"

"Uuuuuuhhhhh..."

Kagedansu glared at his student. "Austin, who told you to stop jumping?"

"Uuuuuuhhhhh..." Minato didn't even glance at him.

The Shadow Sekirei shrugged. "Fine, but only because it's Rusev Day."

"I thought yesterday was Rusev Day," Kazehana pointed out, a suspecting smirk spreading her lips.

"It was," said Kagedansu. He then produced a "Happy Rusev Day" calendar from seemingly out of nowhere, opening it to the current month. "See? Yesterday was Rusev Day, and _today's_ Rusev Day, which makes tomorrow Rusev Day. Then it's Rusev Day again, and the _next_ day's Rusev Day, and the day after that, and the day after that, plus the next day, **ALL THE DAYS!** "

He rolled up the calendar and stuffed it down his pant leg. "Gotta keep track of this stuff, you know?"

"I do," Kazehana replied, her eyelids drooping seductively as her gaze swiveled to her sweaty, smelly husband. "Your turn, Mina-kun. Unless you're going dancing in that."

"Dancing?!" Minato's eyes flickered with horror. "I've never- I haven't even- _What?!_ "

"It'll be fun," said Kazehana, taking him by the hand. "I'll even help you get dressed."

" _IN A PIG'S EYE, THOU OBSCENE TEMPTRESS!_ "

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukiumi was on hand to spit venom from her eyes at Kazehana, the whole time Minato was changing. When he came out, he had on a respectable green turtleneck to compliment his usual jeans, wherein Kazehana sent him back in to find something less snaggy. Where they were going, she said, there would be plenty of ways to get his beltloops or button caught on something.

When he came out again, he'd found some loose-fitting indigo track pants. Hardly the bedazzled threads that Kazehana wore, but she could make due. With a goodbye to everyone and an _especially_ conceited farewell to Tsukiumi, Kazehana snagged a purse by the front door and was on her way with her husband.

They didn't get far before Kazehana pulled him into an alleyway and told him to turn around. Minato immediately got excited, as evidenced by his loose pants, but when he was given the green light to turn back, he found Kazehana with an added purple underdress on, coating most of her cleavage and hiding the side of her buttocks.

"More clothes?" asked Minato. "I didn't think you worried about that."

"Oh, have no fear, Mina-kun," Kazehana assured him, doing a little hop which _really_ got his blood flowing. "This is one bouncy wife who hasn't found her shame. I just wanted to give Tsukiumi a burst artery or two."

She cut off his retort with a finger to his lips. "Plus..."

She leaned in close, nipping at his ear lobe before whispering, "I loved feeling you take off my clothes. And that's _definitely_ happening tonight." She blew softly on his ear. "Mi. Na. To."

Ooooof course...

...he would have to snare her in his arms and wrestle her tongue to the bottom of her mouth. She squealed in delight, forcing his hands onto her and getting her underdress all wrinkled. Dinner and this upcoming dance couldn't end soon enough, as far as he was concerned.

Dinner was quick: a stop at a restaurant for a few rolls of sushi and a few cups of sake. Kazehana swore not to drink to much, lest she black out and not remember the rest of her night come the next morning. And by "her", she really meant "him". They both knew it.

"So, what's this dance?" he asked as they left the sushi and the payment behind.

"Actually, it's a gathering of Sekirei," she replied. "MBI put it together as a way to get Ashikabi and Sekirei more familiar with seeing each other."

"What? Why?" Minato inquired. "Doesn't that go against the whole point of the game?"

Kazehana sighed. "Knowing Minaka, it's probably meant to add some more of that drama he loves so much. This way, the Sekirei won't just be fighting for their Ashikabi. They'll be terminating and separating couples they actually know, making it more tragic."

Out of nowhere, Minato's date started to swoon. "Ah, but it's such a legendary tragedy! Lovers fighting their friends and neighbors, all for the chance to be together forever!"

"Ooo-kay..." Minato was starting to see how Kazehana could fall for Minaka in the first place.

Catching his look, Kazehana swung a leg to his hip and hoisted her bust up to his chest, bracing her arms against his shoulders.

"But don't you worry your cute little face," Kazehana cooed, tenderly tracing a finger along his jaw. "Your _onee-sama_ isn't going anywhere, and she isn't looking to terminate anyone anytime soon."

"Promise?" he asked.

She hopped off his hips, and touched her forehead to his. "Promise. I might've been a soldier, but that was a long time ago. Now I'm a married woman, and I wouldn't dream of taking that away from anyone else, not if I didn't have to."

Minato sighed, smiled, and gave her a quick, non-luminescent peck on the lips. "Thanks, Kazehana."

Scooping her up in his arms, he resumed walking. Kazehana smiled back and wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her head against his temple.

"I hope I don't tire you out, Mina-kun."

"Actually, you're a lot lighter than the last time I carried you."

"Oh?" she asked playfully. "Are you saying I was fat?"

"Kazehana," he said, eyeing her breasts, which he _knew_ had gotten bigger since they'd first met, "you've only gained weight, and I love where it's gone."

She giggled. "So do I. I've got a lot of competition, after all."

Soon enough, they arrived at the club, flyers with proclamations of "Sekirei welcome!" and "ABSOLUTELY NO FIGHTING INSIDE!" plastered all over the front door.

Behind that door, hidden by the paper clutter and generic club music, was the most unwelcome guest they could've predicted.

"Hello, Kazehana. Been well?"

"Hello, Karasuba. Well enough, all things considered."

Minato barely had time to tip his non-existent hat before Kazehana hauled him away. The club was a lot more packed than he would've thought, a surprising amount of both boys and girls having shown up. He imagined, with an advert tied to the Sekirei Plan, that the place would've been empty. Then again, what did he know?

"It's probably the half-priced drinks!" Kazehana shouted, her voice barely overtaking the blaring techno beat. "Speaking of which, let's have some!"

Next stop: the bar, two glasses, and a _clink!_ that not even they could hear.

"To us!" proclaimed The Wind Sekirei.

"And the night ahead!" Minato added.

Kazehana smirked. "One thing at a time, naughty boy."

"Like _you're_ one to talk!" he protested, before slugging back his drink alongside her.

Blessedly, the techno music was cut off. It seemed they'd arrived a little early to the party, from the times he'd seen posted on the fliers. The actual party was about to start, it seemed.

It was then that the DJ's voice came over the speakers.

"First off, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Rusev Day-"

Minato froze. _He's not…_

"-next, to thank you all for accepting the invite."

Yet, there he was: standing behind the audio controls, wearing his "Macho Man" sungoggles, a "Happy Rusev Day" hoodie unzipped to reveal his white "Hot Rod!" shirt, shorn blonde hair already matted with a thin coating of sweat.

"Now if anyone wants to request something, feel free to come up here and ask. No promises about having it, though." Kagedansu grinned, reaching down to fiddle with the laptop in front of him. "But enough talk. _Rock the worrrrrld!_ "

Minato got a full blast of a descending guitar riff as Kagedansu threw up some metal horns at the gathered crowd. Looking around, he spotted several Sekirei already, their marks exposed and on display, nervously shuffling around the dance floor and bar area with their Ashikabi. At least, he _assumed_ they were Ashikabi. Frankly, most of them looked as average and clueless as he'd been when he first winged the beauty standing next to him. Maybe six Sekirei helped him adjust six times faster? Or maybe it was Kagedansu's training regimen. Frankly, he didn't care.

Neither did Kazehana, who wasted no time in hauling him into the middle of the dance floor as the 1980s rock kicked into full swing.

 _On a high road to nowhere…_

 _Look out now, for battles fade fast._

 _Don't borrow from tomor-rowww,_

 _Or get caught up in the past!_

 _Ooo-oo-ooh… I don't want to-!_

 _Ride the wiiind…_

 _Make it spii-iin…_

He lost track of the music after that. Everything became a hazy of limb-thrashing, head-banging, and hip-shaking, depending on how heavy the flavor of '80s was. Maybe it was from his first time, maybe it was from his blood pressure spiking from Kazehana's supple, barely-contained curves grinding against him, but after only four songs and maybe twenty minutes, Minato started to feel kind of drained.

He cursed himself for this. What was the point of exercise when this was all it took to wear him out? Luckily, Kazehana seemed to sense his weakening state, and left his amorous hips behind to weave her way to Kagedansu. A quick word with him and she was back, facing her Ashikabi with a knowing smile on her lips.

"What did you do?" Minato asked.

Kazehana reached up to his head and brushed a stray lock of hair aside. "I asked if he had anything a little slower," she replied, before quietly adding, "and a little more romantic."

Minato glanced over to the DJ station. Kagedansu seemed a little _too_ happy with going about picking the next song. Soon enough, it came on, another obvious hair metal tune, but this one a lot slower-paced.

He felt two hands take hold of his own, and guide them towards Kazehana's womanly hips. Those hands left his just as he looked back at her, in time to see her take gentle hold of his shoulders. He was getting lost in her eyes, like they were beaming her thoughts of love and romance directly into his mind. One step to the side, then the other, swaying back and forth as they slow-danced to the most unlikely genre to slow-dance to, in Minato's opinion.

However, he was brought out of the moment when some particularly intelligible lyrics reached his ears.

 _We're baaaaaaad for each-other…_

Minato thought he could hear a second voice, quietly and sardonically singing along.

 _It's saaaaaaad but it's tru-ue…_

At his station, The Shadow Sekirei had a hand clamped over his mouth, trying to hide his fit of hysterical chortling. Minato's angry glare only made him chuffle harder.

 _We're baaaaaaad for each-other…_

Those same hands from before reached up and guided his head down, touching his forehead to his Sekirei's. She closed her eyes, smiling, lovingly kneading his dark locks.

 _So why's it have to feel so-o good… when I'm lying next to you?_


	66. Be Warned, Disbelievers

**Author's late response** :

 _To Tokha123_ and _darkstel_ : Oh-ho, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Not with what I got cooking for Chapter 67.

By the by, took myself off the weekly schedule. Had a job for over a month now, so I haven't had as much time to write, or as much energy. Plus, I felt my work's quality was suffering, so I'll be devoting more time to polishing things rather than just banging them out.

Speaking of quality, anyone up for becoming my beta-reader? Armichi (who has been _immeasurably_ helpful in double-checking these chapters) is going through some stuff right now and may not be able to read for a while. I got Chapter 67 all typed out, so if anyone wants to volunteer their services, just PM me.

* * *

 **Be Warned, Disbelievers**

What was she doing here?

This marked the fourth time she'd asked herself that, and the fourth drink she'd poured to answer. Time away from Higa's glorified prison, she'd thought, would do her good. An unhealthy number of drinks would do her good.

But she never would've expected to see _him_ here.

Yet there he was. He looked so at home here, despite everything she knew about him. Everything he must've gone through in the past two weeks alone, her betrayal and leaving the Inn capping it off, had he just brushed it off? She recalled the advice she'd been given: "Stay around people. Force yourself to put on a happy face." How much was he bottling inside, especially with the knowledge that next match would be his last chance to obtain a Jinki.

Number Ten sipped her drink, staring at Minato, trying her hardest to ignore the flamboyantly-dressed disc jockey, grinningly swaying with the beat behind his instrument panel. A sip turned into a chug, the burn from the alcohol failing to supplant the burning envy she felt.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Minato would've stayed there forever: on that dance floor, with Kazehana in his arms, swaying to the slow beat of the (surprisingly) gentle rock music. Minato felt himself slipping again, like he had on their first date. His fingers pressed into the black fabric that coated her body; it might as well be absent, for it did nothing but hinder the feel of her soft skin. Even over the loud 1980s American hair metal, he could hear her gentle hums of soulful content.

Slowly, the songs began to get heavier. Their sway became a shuffle. Slow hair metal gave way to moderate, more mystical heavy metal. He and his Sekirei were no longer on a dance floor, but riding an invisible magic carpet, flying over the treetops that dotted a winding river, a river which led to… Minato's mind's eye couldn't make it out. High atop a mountain, its lower foundations surrounded by clouds, was something. It looked like a palace. Its walls were made of shimmering starlit nebulas, plucked from the depths of outer space. Its buildings glistened with starmetal, warping like liquid to the whim of their master. But the architecture only bore the faintest traces of human hands, not in imitation, but in perfection. He got the sense that _this_ was the template from which civilization had been cast, slowly eroded as precision and knowledge were lost with each passing generation. He was wide awake, yet it felt… What was he experiencing?

 _Come down with fire,_

 _and lift your spirit higher._

 _Someone's screaming my name._

 _Come and make me_

 _holy again._

The cloudy image faded from his mind as he took a step back from Kazehana, blinking in a half-daze.

"What did you say?" he asked. He'd missed her comment, drowned out by the… Wait, he knew this song. "Man on the Silver Mountain". His sister Yukari listened to it all the time! He never remembered it being this vivid, though.

"I said," Kazehana repeated, louder this time, "something wrong, Minato?"

"It's nothing," he shouted back. "I just need to sit down."

Kazehana smirked, keeping hold of his hand as he led her to a round table. "Saving your energy for later?"

"Not this time," he admitted. "I just…"

He swallowed, audibly were it not for the music. Words had died in his throat when he saw who'd joined them.

"It's been too long, Three," said Karasuba, leaning on the table.

"Karasuba," greeted Kazehana, her grip around Minato's hand tightening a little. "What brings you here?"

"Minaka," said The Black Sekirei. "Natsuo, too. They both insisted that _I_ come here. Haihane's out of touch at the moment, and Benitsubasa wouldn't come unless Natsuo came with her. Minaka couldn't jeopardize the Squad's Ashikabi, or risk Benitsubasa starting a fight."

She sighed, her expression as immobile as her stony heart. "So, here I am."

Kazehana looked convinced. "I see."

"What about you, Three?" asked The Black Sekirei, turning her wolf-like eyes onto Minato. "You never struck me as the type for busy work."

"That's not true at all," Kazehana confessed with a shrug. "You know me. I can't say no to a romantic evening."

Karasuba smirked a little. "Oh yes. I almost forgot about that. How long _has_ it been?"

"Not long enough," came the hurried response. Kazehana's eyes darted to Minato's, meeting his own. Worry had crept its way into her beautiful features, and not just for her safety.

"It's okay," said Minato, causing that worry to creep further. "We're not in a hurry. We can stay longer, if you like."

Just like that, the worry vanished, and Minato got this warm, slightly amused feeling at the base of his mind, where his skull met his neck. Strange, but not unpleasant.

"By all means, stick around, have a drink, enjoy the… music," said Karasuba, leaning on the table as a small tic of annoyance appeared on her brow. "My evening's already as good as ruined."

" _Nothing will be spaaaared_ ," sang a voice (in harmony) as it approached their table. " _No oooone left alive-_ "

Kagedansu sat down right as Karasuba's tic disappeared. Upon listening, the music didn't seem as annoying anymore. So, naturally, present company balanced the deficit.

"Are you behaving yourself, Four?" Kagedansu asked, like a parent talking to their niece or newphew.

Aaaand the tic was back, slightly larger, and Minato and Kazehana felt their hearts skip a beat. Was Kagedansu _insane?!_

"Because you'd be forgetting your whole reason for being here," he continued, "over something as stupid as old blood."

At this, Karasuba's hand drifted down to the nodachi sheathed at her hip. Her thumb slid under the tsuka and popped an inch of deadly steel from the black scabbard.

Kazehana's whole body tensed up, and she slowly set her drink to the table. A small, near-motionless gust of wind kicked up around her ankles, concentrated enough so that she hoped Karasuba wouldn't feel it. And that was a pretty big "hope", because if Karasuba so much as _suspected_ Kazehana's play, her beloved husband would be cradling her bloodied corpse in his arms.

"It's hardly old," said The Hound of MBI. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

Kagedansu blinked, his eyes shifting nonchalantly to the sword, then back to Karasuba.

"I know you're not going to," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh?" Karasuba asked, another centimeter of sword sliding out. "And why is that?"

He pointed at her. "For one thing, you're supposed to be the one keeping everyone from getting out of hand. I mean, I could… I dunno, _functionally_ get the job done, but no one's going to back down because some no-name with meaty biceps atells 'em to knock it off."

Beneath the table, Kazehana slowly slid a hand over Minato's and gripped it tightly. Minato didn't look at her, but turned his head to the side and leaned back in his seat, making it look like he was trying to spot something on the other side of the room. She could see his eyes, just as frightened as she was, and his palm turned over to squeeze hers back.

"That in mind," Kagedansu continued, withdrawing his finger, "Reason #2 is that I _know_ you're not stupid."

Karasuba smiled. It sent a worm crawling down Minato's spine.

"It's a matter of logistics, you see," Kagedansu informed her. "There's about eight other Sekirei around here, and that's only the ones inside. No way of knowing if anyone brought back-up, because that flier said 'In the club', not 'somewhere close by'."

Now that he mentioned it, Kazehana hadn't thought about that. Not many Ashikabi had multiple Sekirei, definitely not as many as Mina-kun or Mikogami of the South. Here and there in the days since Stage Two had ended, she'd spotted pairs of Sekirei following the same human. Never mind protection, who's to say they wouldn't sneak on to the roof to surprise their Ashikabi when they came out? The fact that the building hadn't come crashing down meant anyone up there hadn't started the free-for-all.

 _All those star-crossed lovers, ready to brave death just to be close to their beloved! Aaaah, that's so precious!_

Minato couldn't help but feel that Kazehana might've checked out, if her clasped hands and side-to-side swaying was any indication. He _really_ wished he could join her.

Karasuba ignored her, or at least tried to. Of more interest was this little bird who thought he had some kind of advantage on her, _her_ , the Black Sekirei, Captain of The Discipline Squad.

"So when you go breaking the rules you're supposed to enforce," Kagedansu stated, "then all bets are off and anything goes. No one's here to punish anyone else, every Sekirei for themselves. And when eight other Sekirei realize this, they'll probably also realize who the biggest threat in the room is, and, well, I know you could take anyone one-on-one. One-on-eight? You'd probably get most of 'em, but anyone who managed to take out The Black Sekirei inherits your 'I-Freaking-Dare-You' shirt."

Now he was getting lost in thought, taking his eyes off of her and staring at the ceiling, finger on his chin.

"And that's assuming you get me in one slash, because no _way_ am I letting you get me in two. _And_ assuming that Kazehana doesn't send you into the wall. Plus there's the table, and the bottles behind the bar, not to mention the panicking people who you'd probably kill to get at someone else and so get in _heaps_ of trouble with your boss-"

Karasuba twitched the thumb that rested on her swordagedansu rattled his head from side to side; good thing, too, because Karasuba's patience was at the point where she just might've tried him.

"The point," said Sixty-Seven, "is Iike I said: you're too smart for that."

"You're right, Sixty-Seven," said The Black Sekirei, allowing her blade to slide back into its sheathe, "I _would_ be forgetting my purpose here."

"And what if she _had_ swung for Kazehana first?!" Minato demanded.

"Then I would've caught her scabbard while she turned and stopped her from drawing," Kagedansu said. "That nodachi's too long to draw straight from the hip; simple as Karasuba not having enough reach to get it out without moving the scabbard, so no battojutsu."

Karasuba's hard, grey eyes locked their fierce gaze on to Kagedansu's laid-back yellow ones. Her hand still rested on her nodachi, her fingers drumming against the metal pommel. Kagedansu, meanwhile, had taken a ceramic _sake_ cup off the table and was drumming _his_ fingers against the side. He stopped, never taking his eyes off of Karasuba, and began squeezing the cup. A hairline crack formed along the side, and Karasuba's eyes momentarily darted to focus on this new development. She wasn't alone; the sharp sound reached even Minato's ears, and even Kazehana had taken her eyes from Karasuba to the cup.

In the micro-instant that followed, in the time it took for them all to blink, Kagedansu's other arm was now resting on the back of his chair, far closer to Karasuba's scabbard, which sat on the hip that faced him. His hand was limp at the wrist, and only half-a-meter away from the pommel of that dread nodachi.

The Black Sekirei's hand left her sword, and she got up and walked away.

Kagedansu turned to his two awestruck table-mates. "That," he said in English, "is what Americans might call 'stragedy'."

Minato was so shocked he took a moment to even remember how to talk. "Y-… You mean 'strategy'.

"I know what I said."

Kazehana let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "So do we," said she with a teasing smile, leaning forward on her hands. "You were pretty precise."

"I didn't mispronunciate anything!" Kagedansu protested. "Or that time, either!"

"Sure sounds like it," Kazehana smirked.

"Sounds like what?"

"Like bad English."

"What does?"

"You do."

"What _do_ I do, anyway?"

"A lot of things." Kazehana's mirthful smile almost broke into laughter at this point. "But perfect English isn't one of them."

"Well maybe y _ouuuu_ ," he swaggled a finger in her direction, "just didn't think it was."

"So then tell us, Oda-san," Kazehana prodded, half-sincerely, "what is 'stragedy'?"

"'Stragedy' is the art of making people believe there _is_ no strategy." Kagedansu leaned back and rested his hands behind his head. "Bonus points if they don't even look for one."

Kazehana felt something through her bond with Minato. It was unusual, this feeling. A really strong one, triumphant, but also a little pleased-with-himself.

This was her only clue to why Minato said, "Like having Karasuba and so many other Sekirei here would help keep both sides from fighting?"

The Shadow Sekirei nodded. "Yup."

"And," Minato continued, added to that rather… _attractive_ feeling he was giving off, "how you got all these other Sekirei here so you'd know who you'd be fighting against, Kagedansu?"

 _Wham!_ "That's **RIGHT!** **HE CAN BE TAUGHT!** "

Kazehana's hand was quicker than Minato's, but she appreciated the gesture. With how hard Kagedansu's fists had slammed the table, she thought he might flip it right over and catapult her drink right into his face. Fortunately, such extreme measures weren't needed, just a simple touch to stop her glass from tipping over.

 _Be warned,_

 _Disbelievers!_

 _Listen to what I say..._

"But also," Kagedansu finished, now gesturing at Minato, "it's the same reason Karasuba and most other Sekirei are here: to get a look at the competition." Kagedansu spun in his chair, looking around the room. Now that Minato looked, he noticed Sekirei from other Ashikabis were starting to mingle and talk to one-another. Not all of them, but if not for the crests on their persons, they could pass for old friends meeting.

 _They'll be here soon._

 _There'll be no mercy for those who will stay._

"Alright," said Minato, looking to his lovely date. " _Now_ I'm ready to leave."

 _Of the dark cru-saaaaaade..._

"Aw, come on, Austin!" Kagedansu protested. "We're not even halfway done yet! Just give us one more song, see if you-"

"Why do you keep calling him that?" Kazehana inquired.

"Mainly encouragement," said Kagedansu.

"'Mainly'?" Kazehana smirked a little. "What's your second reason?"

"It's-" Kagedansu halted, stroking his chin and gazing at the ceiling, then the floor. "Gimme a sec..."

"I don't mind," Minato asked. "But let's go."

"No, seriously," The Shadow Sekirei had his other hand, "give it one more song. Who knows? You might-"

The next song hit, like twin axes of triple-headed lightning.

"Okay, now you _gotta_ stay!" Kagedansu declared, pointing to Kazehana. "Now you're gonna see why I _AM_ … The Magic Man."

"And that makes me the new Macho Man?" Minato asked jokingly.

"One step at a time, Austin."

The Shadow Sekirei sprinted away before Minato could fire back another humorous retort. His humor vanished when he saw who Kagedansu was speaking with.

Or rather, _arguing_ with.

Karasuba, even from this side of the dance floor, looked visibly annoyed at this double-X gnat pestering her once again. Kagedansu shrugged, then offered a reason, which she dismissed, then he leaned in and seemed to let her in on some secret… which did absolutely nothing to change her mind. Now he was half-pleading: hands together, mouth open in an elongated "pleeeease", looking like he was ready to drop to his knees. After this refusal, just before the lyrics began, Kagedansu had had enough.

" **OH STOP WHINGING AND** _ **DANCE**_ **, WOMAN!** "

There he went, pulling the single most feared Sekirei in the entire species, by the wrist, on to the dance floor. Her eyes had opened wider than they ever had in her life; no one, not Sekirei, not human, had ever touched her like this, never mind spoken in such a barking tone, not even Miya. Those Sekirei who remained immediately shuffled away from the pair, scared out of their wits of what Karasuba was about to unleash. The only people who stayed were the ignorant humans, who'd probably convinced themselves that the sword was just decorative.

 _I see the enemy!_

 _I know he can't see me-e._

 _Combat, red in tooth and claw,_

 _Ready now for one more score._

 _Took a bullet, in the brain!_

 _Inside, I'm the king of pa-ain._

 _Outside, you will fear my name._

 _I ride a blood-red triplane..._

Eighteen jaws simultaneously smacked into the floor, their owner's eyes ready to pop out of their skulls. It was minimal, granted, so slight that even Karasuba herself might not have realized she was doing it, but not only was Karasuba's sword still sheathed…

Karasuba, the most blood-hungry Sekirei to ever walk the Earth, was _dancing._

It was easily the most anti-social and stealthy wax-on, wax-off movement of the hands that could be conceived, but it was happening. And she wasn't the only one.

" _Turrrrrrrrn, like a deh-vaaaahl!_ " Kagedansu was right opposite her, totally given in to the heavy metal blitzkrieg blasting over the loudspeakers. " _Shoot, straight, frooomm the suuuun..._ "

He dropped to his knees, and began rhythmically clawing at the air above him. " _Cliiiiiiimb, like a monnn-key! OUT OF HELL, WHERE I, BE-LOOOOO-OOOOONG!_ "

Of the two sites, none could say which was more bizarre. By the time the fourth "Death or Glor-ray!" rolled around, a few Sekirei souls had plucked up the courage to go back on the dance floor. All of them remained behind Karasuba's back; just because they'd found their courage didn't make them fearless. Or in Kagedansu's case, _totally out of his mind._

 _I watch you spiral down,_

 _Dead before you hit the ground!_

Kazehana couldn't move. The shock had sapped the energy straight from her legs; they were locked in place like a circus tent pole. Sweat was gathering over her body, now that Karasuba had caught on to her. The Black Sekirei was staring directly into her soul, smiling, knowing _exactly_ what Kazehana was thinking and from that look, her paranoid suspicions confirmed. She was dancing in earnest now, her head afixed atop her shoulders even as her torso twisted and pivoted in time to the tune. Never in her life could Kazehana remember being so petrifyingly terrified.

 _Death or Glor-ray!_

 _The price of fa-ame!_

She had to get out of here. She had to get _Minato_ out of here. There was no telling when Karasuba would explode and kill everyone in this club. No bluff from Kagedansu could keep her in line; the only Sekirei who stayed were either as paralyzed as Kazehana, or their fascination with the phenomenon outweighed their mortal fear. Either way, they knew what was coming, and would be powerless to stop it when it did.

 _Death or Glor-ray!_

 _One, way, traaaaain!_

And then it was over.

The Black Sekirei was smiling.

Her smile seemed… _Genuine._ The strange, unsettling _wrongness_ of everything that had just occurred was only amplified by the silence from the loudspeakers. It was only thanks to that, which Kagedansu's face said was a mechanical malfunction, that Kazehana heard what Karasuba said to him.

"I don't feel like killing you anymore." Karasuba then leaned close and whispered something into Kagedansu's ear. The Shadow Sekirei pursed his lips and nodded like an obedient servant, before waddling over to join his friends.

"Wha-" Minato could barely articulate while Kazehana was literally speechless.

After a moment, Kagedansu's nerve-wracked look vanished, and the laid-back aura reasserted itself. "Live to fly another day, man."

" _Never do that again_." Kazehana was on the verge of tears, something her husband took umbrage at.

"Yeah," he said, sheltering her in his arms as she shook with fright. "Please, Kagedansu."

The Sekirei shrugged. "Hey, she's the one who called me a miracle worker. _I_ said I was just 'Magic Man', but now I got a reputation to maintain."

He grinned. "Besides, I knew right from that opening riff that _that_ -" He pointed to the now-silent speakers. "-was her song. No doubt about it."

He slapped them each on the shoulders and gave them a hearty shake. "Anyway, you two take care. And watch yourselves going out the front; I wasn't kidding about Sekirei on the roof." Then he waddled away like a nervous penguin. What had Karasuba said to him?

"Now," they heard Kagedansu mutter, back at his station, "why'd the music stop, and what we play next? No… No… What the crap is this d-… Why yes, I _would_ like to start a riot."

As some old codger's voice began reciting soft-spoken words over the speakers, Minato looked into his wife's eyes, still clutching her close to him. She was still in terrible shock, though it seemed to be clearing up. Kazehana at least managed to smile, though a smile for her husband's sake.

 _For the Devil sends The Beast with wroth, because he knows that time is short._

"Come on, let's find a hotel," Minato murmured gently, slipping his hands into her own and leading her into the crowd, towards the front door.

 _Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of The Beast..._


	67. For It Is a Human Number

**For It Is a** _ **Human**_ **Number**

 _Its number… is six hundred and sixty-s-…_

The narrator's voice faded before Minato decoded that last word. Strangely, Kazehana's shifting brow and squinting eyes signaled that she'd missed it, too. Then it was out of mind, in the time it took for Kazehana to lean over and nuzzle the side of Minato's neck. Her heated purr was nearly drowned out by an electric guitar, or rather a single string on one, plucked in rapid succession. Now what kind of club song was this?

 _I left alone._

Did Kagedansu have to play it so loud? Minato could already hear his own eardrums throbbing.

 _My mind was blank._

He was just glad they'd chosen to leave now, before Kagedansu's music selection could get _really_ out of hand.

 _I needed time to think,_

 _to get the mem'ries from my mind…_

Dancing bodies pushed against them as they struggled their way through; Minato almost decided to stay a while longer. That notion was stifled when Kazehana clung tighter to his arm which, due to the clothes they wore, meant Minato missed out on feeling the inside of her generous cleavage. For now, anyway.

 _What did I see?_

Minato was thinking that himself. Had the front area always been this crowded?

 _Can I believe..._

He'd heard "Number of the Beast" before, thanks to Guitar Hero 3. A neat track, but it never really grew on him.

 _That what I saw that night,_

 _was real and not just fantasy?_

Whoops. Almost bumped into someone's drink. From the strong smell, it would've enticed Kazehana's lips to his front collar. What a waste that would be; those lips were made for kissing, not suck-

 _Just what I_ _ **saw…**_

Putting the memory/prophetic vision out of mind (for now), he'd finally made it to the door. His sultry wife was clinging a little more snugly to him.

 _In my own dreams…_

Cool night air greeting them, and the door closing behind them, Minato rolled his shoulders around, wringing out the weariness.

 _Were they re-flec-tions of_

 _my warped mind staring back at me?_

He resumed walking, Kazehana resting her head on his shoulder, as she had on their first date together.

 _For in my dreams…_

 _Nothing_ would spoil this night; Minato was hell-bent on it. Something bothered him, though, and he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

 _It's always there._

His mind was pregnant with an epiphany. A blanket had settled on his thoughts, smothering his brain, holding back the rising unease he should feel about… _Something_...

 _The evil face that twists my mind-_

Looking to Kazehana's serene expression, he realized now, nauseous and frightened that he hadn't noticed before: the music, now with an extra vocal track, was still blasting all around him.

 _and brings me to despaaair._

It was now that Minato caught sight of his shadow, cast on a wall by a nearby lamp post, its head turning in sync with Minato's own. Only, it wasn't his shadow.

 _Screeeamm with me now_...

The skull-splitter that erupted from its over-extended jaw shook the very stone it was cast upon. Ashikabi and Sekirei fell to their knees, hands slamming shut over their ears. That siren screech would not be denied, though. It blew the very color off the buildings around it, stripping the bricks of red and leaving shades of gray behind.

The wall fell away, dissolving like a ghost before it could strike the ground. Now only the shadow stood, back arched, its piercing screech uninterrupted. Its black began to flake off, like volcanic ash, unsealing a network of sickening greenish bones. Its dissolving black mask revealed a fleshless, fanged skull, two violet glows in its empty eye sockets.

Heat clawed at Minato's clothes, burning him, while the ear-piercer continued to drill into his brain. The entire block had been bathed in the creature's sonic bleach, not one pigment spared, even as Hametsu's bones began to decompose now, too. The black dust of its remains blew away on a wind, flowing into the hungry maw of a second head, made of a mass of pale, wriggling worms, floating above them in the stormy overcast clouds. An oscillating while tongue came out to lick its roiling lips, before they parted and let loose a tsunami of violet fire upon the Earth.

This, finally, broke the spell. Minato and Kazehana, their terror overcoming their pain, stood, and fled the tide. Even when Kazehana picked Minato up, her face twisted with needle-like agony, the wave was still gaining. Both of them felt its heat, a sensation like their heels were decomposing, being eaten by the fire's vanguard. Kazehana stumbled, her balance lost upon some unseen pratfall. Though Minato was on hand to plant his feet and catch her, the fire finally reached them.

Before swirling its form into a foul-smelling white mist, washing over them as harmlessly as an autumn breeze. Only then did that piercing screech finally, _mercifully_ conclude. But the demon's _song_ , on the other hand…

 _Night was black!_

 _Was no use hol-ding back!_

The mist covered everything. Minato couldn't see eight feet in front of him. His hand still clutched his Sekirei, yet her face was partially masked by the fog.

"Kazehana!"

"Minato, where are you?!" She crawled up his leg, trembling with fear. The Ashikabi ran in circles, this way and that, his mind awash with panic as he struggled to even contemplate where they were. Something was definitely out there. The sense of being watched, being scrutinized, was overwhelming _._

"Run!" Sprinting forward, he prayed the things in the fog wouldn't follow. He dared not let go of Kazehana's wrist, lest they be lost to each other forever.

Like a fell wind, a towering figure materialized in front of them. Minato's feet failed him and he fell, crying out in panic. Its form was inky black, and thin like a willow tree, but its face… The sickeningly psychedelic mask that was its face… The sight filled him with such revulsion that the only memory that remained once he tore his eyes away was the nausea it induced.

" _GET AWAY!_ " Kazehana shrieked, sweeping a hand at it. The creature was cast back on a gale, into the fog, others of its kind swept away. Another shape moved to catch the first.

The Wind Sekirei's attack was a mistake.

Now more appeared, forming from nothing in the fog, shuffling towards the couple. No sound did they make, concealed in the folds of the demon's song. Kazehana unleashed another wall of wind and immediately sprinted away, towing Minato behind. A black stone wall fell from the sky, cutting them off.

 _Six!_

More fell. They were about to be boxed in.

 _Six-six!_

" _NO!_ "

 _The Number of the Beast!_

Kazehana's cry did nothing. The rumble of another wall grew stronger. They knew it spelled claustrophobic doom, should it trap them. Kazehana pulled Minato close, the two clinging to each other.

 _Hell,_

The Sekirei flexed her legs.

 _and fire,_

She jumped-

 _was born to be released!_

And just barely made it. Kazehana tumbled mid-air, and the pair found themselves on the post-apocalyptic remains of a paved road, broken and cratered as the fog began to thin. Everything was some shade of brown or orange, even the dim lights that began to glow a short way down the street, a flickering mass of them, all on the approach.

 _Tor-ches blazed!_

 _Unsacred chants were phrased!_

 _As they start to cry,_

 _Hands held to the skyy-y-yy._

They were indeed torches, these lights, carried by a mass of black-robed figures. Avian skulls sat atop their necks, their hoods pointed in the style of the Death Eaters or the Ku Klux Klan. The low thrum of dissonant murmuring permeated their air. They marched in lock-step, their torch sticks bobbing with the beat as they exited the mist, Minato and Kazehana laying before them.

A furnace roared to life near the couple; turning to the heat's source, from each of the nearby buildings they saw a toothy demon's face contort itself, each visage a copy of the last. Opening their maws, fires raged inside of them, twisting and caressing the silhouettes that danced on their tongues. One of them burst free from a building across the street, screaming demons sending the couple stumbling backward in fright.

A pair of painfully bright lights appeared on their left. Out of nowhere-

 _Six!_

-came a blazing coffin-chariot, screeching to a halt far too late, two bloodshot purple eyes casting their blinding beams upon the two vermin in its way.

 _Six-six!_

His wife acting quick, a grasp of the hand and a swift kick to the ground propelled them out of the way, leaving the infernal vehicle's driver to squawk at them from afar.

 _The Number of the Beast!_

More of these chariots appeared, speeding towards the mass of dark robes and vulture's skulls, plumes of wailing spirits rising from the open caskets. Yet the horde trudged on, iron wheels and spokes passing through them like ghosts, the fabric of their robes wafting behind like smoke.

 _ **Saaaacrifice-**_

Now Hametsu's rasp had a clear direction: the chanting horde.

 _ **-is going on tonight**_

Wading through the black robes came a hulking grey behemoth, its muscles like veiny balloons affixed to an oversized gorilla's bones. Slung over its bloated shoulder was a massive iron cross, swaying up and down with each lumbering step the monster took.

That cross wasn't for them, though. Lashed to the cross-section hung a dangling figure, a sack over his head, his wrists bleeding from the chains that held him in place. His legs kicked this way and that, further tearing his tattered orange jumpsuit, the shredded sleeves revealing his muscular frame. He made no audible cry for help, drowned out by the legato guitar notes.

A rush of air called the couple's attention away, and just in time. A black cannonball shot from the fiery haze of soot, smoke and spirits. It sailed past them and blasted a half-materialized sarcophagus, out of which careened two half-formed shapes. Their arms and legs ended in points, like a child's drawing of a lightning bolt. From the look of their slanted, narrow eyes, Minato and Kazehana knew what they'd become.

Prey.

"Don't let go!" Kazehana barked, pulling Minato close as she leapt to the top of a destitute skyscraper. An updraft of angry poltergeists swooped in from below, propelling Kazehana to far greater heights than she intended, almost up to the clouds. The storm parted, revealing the triangular eyes of a leather-faced figure, his frazzled hair bouncing in time to the axe-headed guitar slung over his black leather jacket.

A six-string sonic stream blasted them back down. Kazehana scrambled to reorient herself, and keep hold of her husband, for the rooftop she'd been aiming for was now three stories shorter.

They ended up crashing on something soft, spongy. Wet.

Warm.

Red.

It was a cylindrical blob, made of blood. It clung to Minato's clothes, getting into his shoes, his socks, his underwear, wrapping him in a gelatinous cocoon. His panicked flailing to swim free carried him before one of the shadow-forms, its prongs crossed and its body oscillating like static. It stuck out its prod and sucked all the blood from his clothes. Feeling all of that red liquid, flowing, _sliding_ over his body, it was too much.

He slapped the black prod away and ran to the edge of the roof, heaving his guts into the magma-

Magma?

A river of glowing rock, flowing down below between the buildings. Panicked, he rotated back around to the black shapes. Their pointed limbs were hooked around Kazehana, who thrashed around in their grip, _screaming_ and kicking like a rabid animal.

Minato bared his teeth. " _Let her go!_ "

His husband-instincts were as red-hot as the fires below. He ran full-tilt and shoulder-blocked one of the shapes in the face, tearing it off of his wife. Its partner was laid out by an elbow. Minato then felt a wave of revulsion wash over him, and the entire world seemed to distort. What were these things doing to him?

 _ **Are we having**_ **fun** _ **, children?!**_

Another skyscraper loomed over him, appearing out of nowhere. Two yellow eyes pushed their way out of the brickwork. Steel groaned as the beams tore themselves apart, forming a webwork of teeth in a mangled grin.

 _ **You're in**_ **my** _ **world now.**_ The whole skyscraper began to tilt forward. _**So drrrrink it in!**_

Kazehana was already in motion, snagging Minato and leaping to the next skyscraper while Hametsu's walls came tumbling down. But as the visage of her landing zone began to fall _away_ from her, gravity took hold and began pulling them sideways. Up was now forward; forward was down.

It wasn't just Hametsu's skyscraper; the whole world was tipping over.

Rivers of magma behind them flowed between the buildings, like water through a pachinko machine. Coffins and cadavers passed them, everything falling.

Falling.

Falling… Into that leather-faced figure's open mouth.

Into a psychedelic nebula, shining with black stars below them.

The notes of the guitar wound down the scale, as if to accompany their plummet into the vacuum. Kazehana began to panic. The fact she had an unobstructed view of the star-filled night inside the being's mouth meant there was nothing to arrest her fall.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the being finished its drink and slammed this hellscape back down, preceding the crash-landing of Minato on top of Kazehana. She cried out in pain, forced from her feet to her back lest the raw impact on ruined concrete pulverize her husband's organs.

Those two things were upon them again. The first, possessing what looked like a nun's shawl descending from the back of its head, conjured another cannonball from its black appendages. Wait, then how had-

Kazehana couldn't afford to dwell. The projectile passed beneath her jump, but the second attacker speared into her in midair, driving her to the ground. All the air blew out of her lungs and her arms were pinned to the ground by crab-like claws at the ends of black tendrils.

"Get your claws off of _my woman!_ "

Minato came to the rescue, running full-tilt and not so much "kicking" the shape as lifting both legs off the ground and having his momentum carry the soles of his shoes into the thing's counterfeit cranium. His missile dropkick attempt was a smashing success, booting the thing off his wife and sending it rolling away. It rolled to a stop and lay on its side, looking at him, tilting its head as its triangular eyes narrowed with predatory scorn.

"Come on!" Minato cried, scrambling to his feet with Kazehana's hand in his own. "We have to get off the street!"

"Right," she replied, unleashing a dome of turbulent wind to blow away the shawl-headed attacker.

They bolted into a burnt-up clothing store. Blackened, half-melted white marionettes shuffled around the inside, pulling at shredded rags and singed sleeves like it was the only thing they knew how to do, even as smoke began leaking from between the floor tiles. One turned towards him as a piece of its face crumbled off. A bloodshot, yellowed eye stared at him, pulsating as it wept black blood down burnt facial meat.

Minato wanted to throw up, at both the sight and the thought. He only hoped he could hold it down long enough. Bolting through the shop towards the back, Kazehana behind him, he quickly spied a fire door, hanging off of one hinge into a back alley. Salvation at last!

It seemed he forgot who was directing this number. Easily remedied, that.

Small geysers of fire were blowing tiles off the floor around him, but his focus was solely on the exit. A black tendril came from behind to claw at him, soaking his clothes with ink; Kazehana reached up as she ran and her wind blew it apart at the midsection. The exit was three steps within reach!

Only for the door to fix itself and slam shut in front of them. Not for long.

Like a slingshot, Minato swung Kazehana ahead of him and she kicked the steel door out of its frame, its hinges along for the ride. Crumbling concrete was ripped from the wall as that door smacked into the iron fire escape outside, delaying Minato and Kazehana's flight for a split second while it flipped over hand rail.

Claws like a human-sized badger's latched onto his shoulders and spun him around, bringing him face-to-leering-face with one of their pursuers. It shook him, before he slapped its appendages aside and front-kicked it away. It stumbled back but appeared unharmed. Bad news for him.

"Take a hint and _buzz off!_ " Kazehana barked at it, a zephyric bombardment blasting it back into the store, its hooks carving divots into the walls to halted its momentum. By then, Kazehana had already taken Minato up to the nearby rooftops.

Where they were greeted by the ghost-like visages of the hooded masses, still marching, still accompanied by that behemoth, still carrying that prisoner chained to the black iron crucifix. Their path was marked by a size-land road, laid out on the rooftops and ending at a black stone tower, lightning bolts striking but not felling it.

 _Seem to… Mesmerize…_

The lines dividing the path of the horde seemed to grow more substantial, especially after said horde was finished passing through Minato and Kazehana. They felt no fear, no pain, from the touch of the wispy cloaks, but upon being passed by the rearguard of the horde, were set upon by an unsettling sense of urgency.

It was then that it occurred to Minato that the cord-like dividers reminded him of steel guitar strings. He felt Kazehana practically _tackle_ him off the roof as a wizened hand, wielding an ebony guitar pick, came crashing into their previous vista like a gnarled leather wrecking ball.

 _Six!_

It retreated back into the sky, before sweeping back down to strike the chord (and their position) twice more.

 _Six-six!_

A moment's respite was afforded, what little it did.

 _The Number of the Beast!_

All other venues were closed; the ground was nothing but flames. That hand was coming back again. But wait! What was that, fading into reality?

 _Six!_

Nowhere to go except jump, on to the square-shaped roof that floated before them, an island in a sea of fire.

 _Six-six!_

The hand smashed that, too, but there was always another island that appeared, waiting for them.

 _The one, for you and me._

Now before them stood the tower, finally split in half as lightning seared away its masonry, everything charring and blackening until there was nothing except a circular foundation.

 _I'm coming back._

The behemoth, standing before it, slammed the crucifix into the makeshift pedestal.

 _ **I will return.**_

The prisoner still hung from the topmost section of black, the sack over his head tearing in half and falling from his face. Minato gasped, for groaning in eyes-half-open agony from the pain on his bloody wrists was none other than Kagedansu.

 _I now possess your body, and I'll make you burn._

A black, eldritch tendril coiled down from the sky, touching off on top of the crucifix and twisting itself into a humanoid shape. Hands formed, as did the silhouette of musculature, not unlike Kagedansu's but somewhat leaner, more compact. A row of grimacing teeth flashed, and two yellow eyes shot open.

 _I have the fire._

"Kazehana, do something!" Minato pleaded. Kazehana looked like she was about to when-

 _ **I have the force.**_

 _-_ their pursuers from before had returned. One caught Kazehana in a double-wings arm lock; the other held Minato in a simple bear hug, arms pinned to his sides. The couple could only watch, too mortified to look away, as Hametsu's form began to melt.

 _I have the power to make-_

Down the crucifix it went, his smile flashing once as the runoff flowed around Kagedansu's head. It seeped into his veins, blackening them, the taint spreading like a necrotic rot to the rest of his exposed flesh.

 _-my evil take its course._

The male Sekirei's whole body seized up, preluding a spherical shock wave of heavy metal sound. It powderized the cross and chains, blew away the horde like dust in the wind. Gravity dropped him to his feet and hands. Kagedansu stood, his chest out, his neck craned; the eyes in his skull, _blazing_ with contempt, were no longer his own.

 _ **The next you open your mouth to me...**_

Minato hoped it wouldn't talk directly, not with Kagedansu's form. The sound of that tinny voice and pretentious-sounding accent coming out of that frame-

That frame whose mouth, already twisted into an uncharacteristic expression of pack dominance, slowly split into a half-grin, half-grimace.

" _ **Remember your place,**_ **worms** _ **.**_ "

Three last chords and then, nothing.


	68. Fear of the Dark

**Fear of the Dark**

Minato woke up screaming, lurching upright so fast he nearly smashed his head into one of the figures around him. His throat burned and he felt more ethereal hooks on his arms as he elbowed and punched at the things trying to feed on him.

"Minato!"

"Be calm, husband!"

His memory placed the plain wooden walls and sliding paper door. He was back at Maison Izumo, the lack of decorations cluing him in to the fact that this was _his_ room. The bedsheets were soaked, and he knew it was them because he'd been stripped down to his boxer shorts.

"How'd I get here?!" he demanded. "Why I am naked?"

"Take it easy!" pleaded Musubi, dressed in her white shirt and short-shorts that made up her night wear and kneeling on his left. "We brought you home after you went crazy and passed out!"

She shimmied aside. "Kazehana, too!"

Lying prone on another bedroll was indeed the voluptuous Wind Sekirei, still as death if not for the gentle rise and fall of her curvaceous bosom. Her hands were at her sides, her legs flat to the mattress. And she, too…

Minato crawled over, completely ignoring Musubi. "She's not…" He felt his first Sekirei's forehead with the back of his hand: clammy, sweaty like his own. "What's wrong with her?"

"As far as I can tell," said Matsu, already dressed in her pink Cheongsam dress as she slid open the door, "she's fine, at least physically."

"What do you mean, 'physically'?" Minato asked. Matsu failed to respond in the two-tenths of a second he alloted her. " _ **Answer**_ _me, Matsu!_ "

A strong hand grabbed the underside of his jaw.

"Thou shalt mind thyself, Minato." Tsukiumi spoke in an even tone, not angry, but with an aura of authority that would not be argued with. "For thy wife and concubines, 'twas a stressful evening as well."

Maybe it was because he still felt like hammered meat, but Minato wanted to protest against Tsukiumi's… "elitist" way of talking down to him. It reminded him of Hametsu a little, and he _hated_ that.

Instead, as a wave of alarm washed over him, instinct took over. He turned and dove on top of Kazehana, who at that exact moment awoke with a gasp and nearly unleashed a reflexive blast of wind. She might've blown the walls to splinters, had Minato not grabbed her shoulders and hurriedly kissed her. As soon as his tongue intertwined with hers, the alarm subsided, and the only thing that escaped was a small gust that fluttered the blanket.

"Minato…" Kazehana was panting when they separated. "Are you…"

"I'm fine. _We're_ fine," he said, which all present knew he didn't truly believe. "Right?"

Kazehana looked around: at the two Sekirei at her husband's bedside, at Matsu, at herself, feeling the blanket clinging to her sweaty form, then at Minato.

"I've had worse," she assured him.

"You sure about that?" Matsu asked, kneeling beside her fellow Single Number.

Kazehana nodded, gently taking Minato's hand. "Nothing to worry about."

Tsukiumi's glare could've boiled an egg. "The _nerve…_ "

"Mh?" Kazehana's cat-like slyness began to return.

"Thou broughtest no end of bedlam last eve, _in_ _ **my**_ _husband's presence-_ "

Minato cut her off. "What?!"

"Do not jest!" she cried, her mask of rage beginning to crack as her eyes went wide with a different kind of mania. "Thou wert complicit in her rampage as well! Minato, what foul concoction didst thou imbibe?!"

While Minato continued to have _no_ idea what Tsukiumi was talking about, Kazehana finally sat up, the blanket spilling off of her curves, revealing that she still wore her black dress from the previous night.

"What my hubby meant to say is, 'We have no idea what you're talking about'." She looked at Minato. "Right?"

He nodded, prompting Matsu to stand and say, "Come with me."

Tsukiumi was left to fume at Kazehana's "hubby" comment, the blonde trusting Matsu to explain the situation better than she could. After all, being the best did not make one the best at _all_ things, Tsukiumi assured herself. Still, given what happened the last time those three were alone…

Matsu left the door to her room open, fully aware of Tsukiumi and Musubi tailing them. The Wisdom Sekirei sat down at her computer, and with one tap of the mouse brought up a video feed. The image was grainy, as one would expect from a traffic camera.

"I didn't get all of it," sighed the Wisdom Sekirei. "From what I heard, this started about half-a-minute earlier."

Neither Minato nor Kazehana liked that exhausted, melancholic tone coming from the mouth of the normally perky Number Two.

The video began to play, depicting four lanes of opposing traffic running through a stoplight intersection. From the bottom-right corner of the feed zoomed two figures, one of them colliding with a driver's window before tumbling down into the dividing line. One carried the other; the latter was, even in such a low-fidelity image, notably buxom.

Kazehana's eyes widened. The video continued.

The pair jolted back, as if startled, into oncoming traffic. A car slammed on its brakes and nearly caused a rear-end collision, the driver leaning over to yell at the pair out the window. However, they didn't seem to hear, for they were looking to their right, at the intersection itself, while cars zoomed past the angry driver in the right-turn lane.

There the couple stood, staring at the crossway, their heads slowly rotating to the left as they tracked some invisible object. It was then that Musubi and Tsukiumi entered the picture, literally. They stood across the street from the two, in the middle divider between the two flows of traffic, calling out to their Ashikabi and fellow Sekirei. No response. Tsukiumi quickly grew agitated and began conjuring a water sphere.

Wait, then… Those two things that chased them...

Kazehana's suspicion was only heightened when Tsukiumi sent the sphere sailing across the street, her fuzzy doppelganger finally noticing and ducking out of the way. Or, no…

It struck Kazehana. Kazehana was splashed with water the previous evening and never for the life of her would've known, had she not seen it with her own eyes.

She remembered what came next, and was already piecing it together in her head. She hoped she was wrong.

To her surprise, she was. And it terrified her.

For while she and Minato whirled around to stare at the empty space on the sidewalk, civilians having long cleared out, Tsukiumi and Musubi landed _behind_ them, _away_ from where the bestricken couple stared. The blonde was still visibly shouting at the two. Kazehana's response? To grab Minato and leap away with him, out of the camera's vision. Tsukiumi's image clenched her fists before following Musubi after them.

Kazehana was speechless, mouth open in horror as the full impact of the previous evening hit her like the midnight express. Minato's knees gave out beside her and he sank to the ground, clutching his head.

"We… I…" Words failed him now, too.

Kazehana took a knee beside him and added her hands to his own, drawing him to her chest. Her eyes still wide, she finally found her voice as she looked at her sister Sekirei.

"How many people?"

Matsu pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her knows. "No one died on the sidewalk. That much we know."

Kazehana breathed a sigh of relief. Her husband, meanwhile didn't ease up at all. His fingers curled against his head; thank goodness he kept his nails trimmed. The Wind Sekirei glanced at The Wisdom Sekirei, who took the hint and left the room. The door closed behind her and left the bestricken couple alone in the dark, the faint glow of the computer monitors casting light to each other's features.

"Musubi…" Minato murmured. He choked on his next thought.

"Shhhh," Kazehana soothed him, while silently swallowing a lump in her throat. "Have a little sob on your Onee-sama's shoulder."

"She…" Minato was breaking down now. "The last time…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matsu sighed as she shuffled down the hall towards the staircase. It felt so strange, leaving Kazehana and Minato in a dark, cushion-laden room together, and _not_ feeling like they were going to sneak some lessons on cunning linguistics. No mischievous grin split her face, no cat-like snicker was uttered, Matsu just felt… _Empty_ , if that was the right word. She felt no emotion so much as the absence of one. It wasn't something she was used to, or liked.

 _I need a diversion,_ she thought. _Who's around?_

A soft murmur of song caught her attention, distracted as she'd been with her introspection. The Shadow Sekirei was lying on his bedspread, the roll beefed up with the addition of an inflatable mattress, so he could hang his head upside-down off the edge. Kagedansu's eyes were closed, and from reading his lips, Matsu deduced he was singing something rock-oriented and dark, from the mouthed phrase, "riding on some atomic bomb to blind you all to Kingdom Come".

Matsu knocked on the edge of the doorframe and brought Kagedansu out of his W.A.S.P.-induced daze. Unplugging his ear buds, he scissored his legs around and sat up.

"Need something?" he asked.

"A lot of things," was her reply, followed by a heavy sigh. "Right now, just someone to talk to."

Kagedansu frowned, looked away, then looked back at her as his brow leveled out.

"Aaaallrighty then. What about Homura? Actually, where _was_ he last night? Couldn't reach him?"

"More like 'refused to answer'," Matsu grumbled.

"You know, for a guy who almost killed himself because he couldn't be winged-" Kagedansu paused to take a long shot from a bottle of protein drink, then wiped his mouth on his wrist. "Aahh, he sure seems to hate his new state."

"I know," Matsu sighed. "I just wish he'd talk about it."

"Did he talk about it before?"

Matsu nodded, resolving to steer the conversation back to her initial anxieties when the opportunity presented itself. "Sometimes. Whenever he needed me to make him some medicine. He was dead silent about it the rest of the time"

"Didn't know you knew pharmacy stuff. I thought you Brain-types were all about programming and stuff."

Matsu smiled, pride mixed with a rising flow of mischief. "I'm a multi-dextrous Brain-type. Chemistry's snuggled between computers and robotics in _my_ skill set."

A glimmer entered her eye. Maybe she didn't need to talk after all, provided…

"Robotics?" Kagedansu inquired.

"Yup," said Matsu. "It's almost like a course in anatomy, for how everything needs to fit together. Chemistry helps fill in the blanks when it comes to balancing bodily fluids."

Her smile turned into a smirk, hugging her arms beneath her bust and pushing her boobs together. "Want me to give you a lesson?"

Kagedansu shook his head. "No thanks," he said. "I got but one woman in my life, and she's waitin' for me."

Matsu chuckled. "Don't say that around Kazehana. She'd never shut up."

Pursing his lips, Kagedansu nodded in agreement. "Speaking of, where is she?"

"I left her in my room with Minato," replied the redhead, pointing to her wall-door.

Kagedansu got up, seeming to have completely forgotten Matsu's initial reason for approach. Maybe Matsu's complete lack of shame drove him to vacate so quickly. Or maybe, he sensed something she didn't.

Knocking on the door, it proved to be more a courtesy, because he didn't wait before barging in.

"Come on!" she heard him bark. "Moping around isn't gonna fix your state of mind!"

Minato came stumbling out of the darkness. He was still visibly shaken but very much surprised by Kagedansu's treatment, The Shadow Sekirei stepping out behind him.

"Go on!" said 67, shooing his student away. "Put on your best happy face and go talk to someone! I can think of at least two who're probably waiting on you."

Minato started mumbling an objection but Kagedansu wasn't having it.

"Oh no you're not, not this time!" He jerked a thumb to the right, towards the back of the house and the gardens. "Beat it!"

As soon as Minato had wandered down the stairs, Kagedansu returned to his room and slammed the sliding door shut behind him. Soon enough, Matsu heard the sound of more whispered lyrics.

" _Here I come, the messiah maaan._

 _Bow to me, make me your god."_

Down the stairs, out the door, on the roof, Minato found her. She looked as radiant as ever, her blonde hair flowing in the breeze as she stood watchful atop the apex of the roof. It reminded him of a dream he'd had of her, when he'd greeted her atop a misty outcropping. He hadn't said anything to her, and as time went on, as he'd held her hand as they watched an ethereal sunrise, the fog had dissipated.

 _Ha! 'Cleared the air'. I get it,_ Minato thought, amused _. If only it had been that simple._

But that had been then, and now was now. Minato had a feeling that a more direct heart-to-heart was in order.

He also had a feeling that "Hametsu did it" wasn't going to work.

Now that he was looking at her, if her long, flowing hair were black instead of blonde, it kind of _would_ look like a nun's-

"Yes?" she said, without turning around. "Speak thy mind, Minato."

Now _why,_ oh why, did Minato feel like he was about to juggle dynamite sticks… over a bonfire?

"Well… Where do you want me to start?" he replied. "What would you want to talk about?"

"With respect to last night, a single utterance." She folded her arms beneath her bust and pulled at her elbows. "Thou calledst Kazehana 'thy woman'."

"Yeaahh..." he breathedly slurred, his shoulders slumping. "Sorry about that."

Now Tsukiumi _did_ turn. "Why dost thou apologize?" She tilted her head, the breeze casting wider her golden hair. "Dost thou regret thy words?"

Boy, could Tsukiumi lay a trap for him or _what_.

Minato wracked his brain for a way out. _Game the game_ , he thought to himself. _Game the game…_

"Should I have called her my 'wife' instead?" he asked.

Tsukiumi's eyes _blazed_ with blue fire. "Why. Wouldst thou. Do so?"

"Because," said Minato, only now coming to terms that he was pretty much just winging it (heh heh), "if the situation were flipped, I would've said the same about you."

"Then thou regardest the title 'wife' as meaningless!" Tsukiumi looked angry, but strangely, her fists weren't clenched. "Hath our vows been founded on lies?!"

A few sputtered utterances of grunts and half-formed syllables came from Minato's mouth as he fidgeted beneath Tsukiumi's ire, until he resolved to take a breath and start over.

"Look, I know I hurt you with what I said last night," Minato protested, "but I didn't mean to!"

"Just as thou didst not 'mean' thy double-booted assault on Musubi?"

Minato's face went dead. "That was different."

Tsukiumi didn't seem to think so. "Pray tell, in what way?"

His eyes drifted off, staring at the grass as he mentally thumbed through his vocabulary. "I was caught in a… Some kind of hallucination, a really vivid one. Hametsu-"

A finger to the lips shut him up.

"Say no more," Tsukiumi told him, before lowering her hand. "I promise his head, for daring bring harm to thee, and to our union."

The weight on Minato's mind lifted, and he gently stopped Tsukiumi's hand between his own. "This might sound weird, but… That means a lot to me, Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi blushed and averted her gaze. "It-, it should not. Recallest our vows: no one may have thy life but me."

A calloused fingertip hooked her chin, and steered her gaze back to her husband.

"Actually," Minato said, a small smile on his mouth, "the fine print was 'No one can kill me except you'."

"'Tis the same in spirit!" Tsukiumi barked, before cringing at the pun she'd just made.

"But it isn't," said Minato, his smile vanishing, replaced by a tinge of frustrated sadness. She'd _just_ forgotten his transgression, and here he was, re-salting that wound. "It's why I can't just pick one of you to be my legal wife. When I promised I wouldn't lose anyone, I didn't just mean to the Sekirei Plan. Would you be okay if I picked Kazehana to be my wife instead of you?"

"N-!" Tsukiumi stopped herself. Every fiber of her being _screamed_ at her to scream denial at him. How dare he ask such a thing! He knew what it meant to her, thus knew her answer!

But… Agonizing though it was, Tsukiumi searched her heart and weighed it against her better judgment, and remembered what was more important to her.

"'Twould devastate me," she admitted, "but-"

"Not good enough." Minato's arms found their way around her waist and pulled her close. Their lips touched gently, then again more passionately. Tsukiumi's wings spread from her Sekirei crest and she sensed that all was not well in her husband's mind. She sensed unease, discomfort, tainting the otherwise blissful lip-lock they shared.

When Minato pulled away, he looked into her ocean blue eyes, and said, "It would devastate _me_ if I broke your heart like that. I'm your husband, Tsukiumi, for as long as you want to be my wife."

Tsukiumi smiled, and then, in a rather unexpected move, laid her head against Minato's chest. "For long as sunrise cometh, then."

He laid a hand on her head, and stroked her radiant golden locks. "I'll take it."

On his second stroke, he stopped at the base of her skull. "But Kazehana wants to be my wife, too, Tsukiumi, and I don't know how to tell her no. I love her too much."

"Thou canst not love equally, Minato," said Tsukiumi, her anger cooled by her husband's embrace, merely simmering. "I know not thee to speak false."

"I don't love you equally, Tsukiumi, no. Kazehana I love for how cheerful she always is, how she carries herself like an older sister to all of you, the way she flirts with me; I feel like I'll never have a bad day as long as she's with me."

Now that simmer was starting to boil. Minato could sense this, and tentatively pried Tsukiumi's head from his chest to once again view her sapphire portals.

"You I love for how shy you can be when we're alone."

"Wha-!"

"Oh, I'm not done," he warned her, a spark of mischief entering his voice. "Kazehana's beautiful, but so are you: your hair, your eyes, your soft skin, your clothes…" His eyes darted to her generous cleavage. "In fact, out of everyone, your outfit's probably my favorite."

He leaned close and murmured, "And not just the one I bought you."

Tsukiumi started, the hue of her face libel to turn a cherry green.

"I love the way you talk, too," Minato continued, pressing the attack as he pulled her into a hug, running his hand down her golden locks. "Just as mature as Kazehana, but with so much authority and assurance. It makes me feel like I can do whatever I want, because I know you're here to shout me down if I mess up."

Tsukiumi was practically melting. Her knees were giving out beneath her.

"So no, I don't love you equally," he said, before scooping her up bridal-style. "But I don't love any one of you more than the others."

The Water Sekirei felt her husband's forehead touch her own, right before he said, "And I'll break my own legs before spoiling what I have with you."

Tsukiumi's eyes were clenched shut with bashfulness. She wanted him so badly right then, but was buried so deep within herself, lest someone spot the helpless state she was in. The mighty No. 9, laid low by loving words and tender touch, soaking in every sweet utterance that fed her devotion to her husband. She was a disgrace as a Sekirei and (she hoped) a paragon of wifehood, and she simply couldn't choose how to feel.

She clung fast to him as he carried her indoors. Miya was bypassed without incident. However, bad luck would find them on the second floor, in the company of a certain involuntary shut-in.

"Kukuku, don't let the others see you like that, Tsukiumi," Matsu snickered. "They might think that prim and proper attitude is just a farce."

Tsukiumi glared at her, but in her current state, it looked more like a pout than anything threatening. The domino effect had only just begun.

"Oh my!" Kazehana swooned, freshly dressed. "Minato, you naughty boy. What did you do to make Ms. Panty Flash melt like this?"

"The same thing I'll do to you, if you don't leave her alone," Minato replied, though only half-serious.

"Oooo, _anything_ but that." Kazehana's wide hips began to sway from side to side. "I'll be waiting for you, Minato. We can finish our date tonight."

"Not happening, Kazehana. Sorry." Matsu reached into her cleavage and pulled out a tablet. "Just intercepted an email from Minaka. The third match is tomorrow."

"So we'll go to bed early," Kazehana said, noticing Minato's absence from the hallway, the Ashikabi having ducked into Tsukiumi's room and closed the door.

The Wind Sekirei, now out of sight from her husband, did not wait for Matsu's incoming rebuttal (they knew each other so well). Passing Kagedansu's room-

"- _raping the women and wasting the men. The only good Injuns are taaame..."_

 _-_ she made her way downstairs. Following her ears, she found whom she sought in the kitchen, running the faucet.

"Hey, Miya, your room's soundproofed, right?"

The landlady turned, slowly, her hanya mask shimmering into being behind her. But, for only a moment.

Having spent her entire life around Sekirei, she knew them well. As such, she knew, from the look in Kazehana's eyes, that her intentions were anything but mischievous.

"Why do you ask?"

Kazehana looked away, timidly hugging her arms. "I'd rather not say."

That confirmed it. "It is," Miya replied, turning back to the stove. "The bolt may require some tinkering before it slides into place."

Kazehana breathed a sigh of relief, affirming Miya's decision.

"I appreciate that, Miya."

Kazehana returned upstairs. She took her time, lost in her inner thoughts as she struggled to come up with a way to break the news to her husband. Would he understand? He was such a sweet boy, not innocent by any stretch, but… She had to tell _someone_. The only other person was Matsu. But something, perhaps her Sekirei core, pushed her towards her Mina-kun. She wanted to pour her heart to him, to make him understand the pain she'd bottled up inside of her.

Having absent-mindedly stood on the stairs for… well, she didn't know how long, she ascended the steps toward the sound of dissension. What she found was her Minato embroiled in a _raging_ argument with, of all people, his mentor.

"Listen, _pal_ , if you wanna go all P.M.R.C. on me just because a goon in black _happens_ to like it as well, that's fine!" Kagedansu, looking more PO'd than he'd been since he attacked Uzume on the night of Homura's winging, held up his hands. "But don't be surprised if I think your opinion's complete _**BULLSHIT!**_ "

"You're teaching Ku, an _eight-year-old,_ about murder, atrocities, genocide, _rape_ -"

" **WORDS MEAN NOTHING ON THEIR OWN!** " He nodded his head to his left. " _ **SHE**_ **PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE** _ **ASKED**_ **IF YOU DIDN'T MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT!"**

"DON'T YOU SPEAK FOR HER!"

" **I'LL SPEAK WHATEVER I DAMN WELL WANT TO, TIPPER!"**

Ku, standing beside Kagedansu, was beside herself. "Stop it…" she whimpered. "No fighting…"

Alas, her potted plant friends could not intervene, for she couldn't hear their calls over all the shouting.

"THEN WHO WOULD YOU GET TO TELL HER WHAT THOSE WORDS MEAN?!" Minato fired back. "Wait, I'll do you one better: WHAT IF HAMETSU HEARS _YOUR_ MUSIC AND ATTACKS _KU_ NEXT TIME?!"

"Wha-?" Kagedansu looked flabbergasted, then _explosively_ angry. " _ **WHAT?!**_ "

"Yeah!" Minato asserted, getting all up in Kagedansu's face. "Who's to say he wouldn't have attacked us if not for _your_ song? It matched up pretty perfectly!"

" **AND MAYBE HE WOULD'VE** _ **ANYWAY!**_ " roared the Sekirei. " **WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK?** "

"WE WERE OUT ALL NIGHT, AND HE ONLY APPEARED _AFTER_ WE LEFT THE DANCE! THAT SEEMS PRETTY DELIBERATE, IF YOU ASK ME!"

" **OH, SO HEAVY METAL'S THE MUSIC OF EVIL NOW, IS THAT IT?!"**

"Minato?" Number Three interjected.

" _WHAT?_ " Too late did Minato bit back his rage. He tried again. "What is it, Kazehana?"

He missed it, since he wasn't in his most empathetic mood, but Kazehana carried that same semi-detached air she'd had when they'd first met. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

Running his hands through his hair, Minato inhaled and let out an exasperated sigh. "Sure."

He then glared at Kagedansu. " _This isn't over_."

Kagedansu glared right back at him, speaking through clenched teeth. " _Bet on it._ "

"Come on, guys!" Musubi pleaded. "Can we go back to being friends now?"

Minato caught little of what was said next, as he was being led by the hand to… Miya's room.

He wanted to ask Kazehana's reasoning, but figured he'd find out soon enough. His caution was aroused when she closed the door behind him and began fiddling with the bolt. After it clicked, she remained, facing the door, her face hidden.

Minato's mind flitted back to the night before the bridge escape. "Kazehana?"

"Do you think we can beat him?" she asked.

Minato prided himself on his honesty, especially after the role it played in his marriage to Tsukiumi. Now was not the time for it.

"There's a way," he assured her, circling her toned torso with his arms, his forearms finding a home beneath her bosom. "If he thought he could beat us, he would've appeared already."

Kazehana gently grasped her husband's wrist, letting his words sink into her as his limbs sunk into her supple flesh.

"Maybe he doesn't need to," she murmured.

"What?" From behind, Minato cupped her hand in his own, massaging her metacarpals. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Kazehana sighed. Then she sighed again. Then a third time, as Minato realized his wife was bottling up a confession.

"Tell me, Kazehana."

"He… I..." Her whole body tensed up; her head hung forward. "That other woman, Number 3, the one who killed all those men... I left her behind, on the island."

Kazehana's grip on Minato's hand tightened. "I remember the feeling, the training, the focus. That's all I kept."

Minato understood. Contrary to her attitude during storytime with Matsu, Kazehana really wasn't okay with what she'd done.

"But Hametsu… He-" She hesitated. "He brought it all back. I remember how I felt fighting… _People.._."

Minato should've felt for her more, but for some reason he didn't. In that sense, he was grateful; he could be the rock for her to crash against.

So, he said nothing, simply sinking to the ground as Kazehana turned in his arms and wept womanly tears against him.

"Innocent people," she sobbed, "with families and children back home. I knew they were walking into a death trap and the only thing I did was kill them. I-"

"I hate that part of me," she sobbed. "I hate what I did. I hate that I'll never get rid of it. I thought I could at least control it, but Hametsu..."

She forced a chuckle. "Look at me: one bad date and next thing you know, I'm a complete mess. I'm pathetic, aren't I, Minato?"

"Sure," he said, "I'd love to look at you."

Gently prying her from him so he could spin her towards him, he looked her straight in the eye.

"He brought it back," Minato finished for her. " _He_ did, not you."

Kazehana's beautiful violet eyes still spewed raindrops down the side of her cheeks, even as a weak smile distorted their descent. "He didn't force me to use my powers on humans."

"But he _is_ the reason you chose to." Minato's fingers came up to brush some of Kazehana's hair behind her ear. "You've controlled it every single day I've known you. I _never_ would've guessed that my beautiful wife is a killer."

His words shattered her. She was ready to crumple up and die.

He frame her face with his hands, then brought her forehead to touch his. "Because she isn't."

The Wind Sekirei screwed her eyes shut, weakly grasping at his wrists, trying to pry him away, to let her wallow in her well-deserved condemnation. Her sobs were uncontrollable; words tumbled from her lips, incomprehensible from how utterly her speech had been ruined.

Out of nowhere, Minato pushed forward and stole a kiss. Tears still flowing, Kazehana's hands flew around him, and his around her, as they left all out. Their pelvises pressed together; her enormous breasts spread across his chest as they pushed against each other. Kazehana was back to hyperventilating, breathing heavily through her nose as her tongue twisted and writhed alongside his. Short moans began to punctuate the time between breaths, the thick, lusty sound of The Wind Sekirei contrasting the thin, masculine utterances from her Ashikabi. It was a grappling match now: each was pushing hard against the other, their bodies demanding to be closer, were such a thing possible.

Minato broke the stalemate, pulling her down and twisting his body so that he lay on top of her. Still lip-locked, her bare thighs came up to drag along his hips. Her desperation was diminished, but her moans were no less needy. Kazehana still wept, her hands exploring the toned musculature that her husband had been cultivating for the past few weeks, while his hands slid down her backside to hold her buttocks and crush her fertile birthing hips to him.

Finally they broke, gasping for air, Minato sinking into her soft body as she nestled her jaw into the crook of his shoulder and neck.

"I'm the _onee-sama_ ," she croaked weakly. "I should be stronger than this."

"Shhhh," Minato assured her, stroking her hair, his hand gently running down the side of her ribs. "You can be strong for all of us. And I'll be strong for you."

A long, elated breath was drawn in through her nose. Her fingers sank into his triceps. "I want you."

Now _this_ he felt for. He was tempted, no doubt about it, but…

"Not here," he said, hugging her head close again. "Not now."

Kazehana let slip a weak chuckle. "I know." She sighed, sniffled, then began drawing circles on his back with her finger. "But it's the truth."

Reluctantly, he climbed up off of her. Before standing, he took a moment to feel her up with his eyes, a light blush on Kazehana's cheeks as she basked in his adoration of her.

"That's two I owe you," he said, before standing up and helping her to her feet.

"Such a gentlemen," she breathed, before pouncing on him again. Her legs crossed behind his back as she went straight for another kiss. She didn't care how burned out they were from their fiery make-out session, she wanted just one, more, _sweet_ drop of his passion. Her wings took a moment to emerge; even _they_ seemed weary from the journey the couple had taken since entering this room. After only a moment, Kazehana slid off of him, exhausted.

But not so tired that she couldn't lean up to his ear, and whisper, "Don't keep me waiting, Minato, or I might just steal you away."


End file.
